Best Served Hot
by fallin.sunshine
Summary: Ooh la la, monsieur! A spicy romance hidden amongst death! Revenge of the darkest kind! Friendship, romance, family; discard them all! —welcome, AVENGER.— SASUSAKU. AU.
1. —welcome, AVENGER—

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STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIED

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"—where is he? Stop him! I've told you already, he's dangerous! He needs to be stopped."

_((RUN DON'T LOOK BACK RUN!))_

"—AKATSUKI can't deal with this sort of disruption. I don't care who he is; you kill him and you do it fast. He does not get out of this building alive. None of them do. We've gotten what we need."

((He runs faster, darting to the left and out of sight; there he crouches, panting and scared, and oh so lonely. He watches as men run past, carrying guns; some fire blindly into corners and boxes. Who are they searching for? He doesn't know; oh, he's tired, so tired. How he longs to sleep; sorry, can I sit this one out, thanks.

And then—

_"—GET HIM!"_

He's running again.))

"—I've put all my faith in you, number Four. I expect you'll do the right thing; the correct thing. Kill them all. All of them. Don't leave a single one standing; AKATSUKI were never here."

((He turns, jumps, and then he's hidden, squeezing his body into the smallest hiding place he can find. Midnight-black hair sticks to pale, sweaty skin— or is it blood?—, and he stuffs his fist into his mouth. He chokes back tears; where are they?))

"—all of them, including our own. AKATSUKI were never here. Never. Remember that, Four-san."

((A group of men run past; they stop, look around, and then continue on their journey. He remains hidden, no longer terrified; an unusual, deadly calm has washed over him and he feels only a strange sense of foreboding. Something is going to happen.

_Something terrible_.))

"…Understood."

((When the last person has passed, he springs down and rolls nimbly. No one notices his movement; there is no one there to notice. He straightens, begins to run and then—

"—Sasuke."

His eyes widen. He turns. There he is— nii-san, nii-san!— standing tall and proud, katana in hand; his brother takes a step forwards and he finally notices the blood.

It's everywhere.))

_((MOTHER! FATHER! WHERE ARE YOU?! I NEED YOU!))_

((Nii-san's eyes shimmer suddenly, surprisingly; it scares him and he steps back. Tears trickle down his cheeks, shining in the dim light; but nii-san doesn't stop moving, he keeps coming, he keeps walking slowly forwards.

"…N—Nii-san… N—Nii-san!"

"What's wrong, little brother?" Nii-san cocks his head and smiles gently. "Do I scare you? Does this blood scare you? It is our blood, little brother; the blood of our mother and father and every Uchiha."

"N—No."

"Yes." Nii-san reaches out, one hand still clutching the katana, and presses his index finger against the younger brother's forehead. They stand in silence and then Nii-san finally pushes him away. "Run, Sasuke. I don't want to kill you; run. Run and hate me."

"N—No! Please, this isn't h—happening…! N—Nii-san!"

"RUN!"

And he does just that.))

"…They're dead."

_((WERE YOU CRYING? WERE THOSE TEARS? OR WAS IT JUST BLOOD?))_

"All of them?"

((He slips quietly out of the building. He leaves without a sound, gone without a trace. He looks back only once, remembering; he can see the blade arching through the air, hitting it's target; he feels the spray of blood wash over his face, as his parents shield him with their bodies.

He'd rather be dead.))

"Yes. All of them."

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We kill to protect those closest to us. We kill to protect ourselves. We kill to protect those closest to us. We kill to protect ourselves.

We kill for the truth.

And, yet, everything seems to be a lie.

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((—SUKE!))

Stop calling me. Stop shouting. I can hear you. Stop.

((—SASUKE!))

Please. I can't—

I can't what?

((SASUKE!))

Who are you?

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(hot, hot, hot!)

**_B**

**_e**

**_s**

**_t**

(spicy, tch, tch!)

**_S**

**_e**

**_r**

**_v**

**_e**

**_d**

(ooh la la, monsieur!)

**_H**

**_o**

**_t**

(a forbidden love amongst death!)

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"—Sasuke?"

Uchiha Sasuke blinked blearily, lifting his head out of his hands, and then looked around. He'd fallen asleep (again) and it looked like it had been Naruto's turn to wake him up. The blonde stared at him, biting his lip, his cerulean eyes worried.

"What?" He murmured, stretching; his gaze swept over his desk, taking in the messy papers and the scattered pot of pens.

Naruto paused, looked swiftly around, and then ducked into the cubicle; he ran a hand through his blonde hair, before lowering his voice. "Dreams again?"

"Nightmares."

"…You were whispering something. I couldn't quite hear it, but it sounded like 'nii-san'. D'you have a brother?"

Sasuke scowled, sweeping the mess he'd caused to one side and then turned to look directly at his work-mate (and, coincidentally, his best friend). He let out a sharp breath and placed his head in his hands. "I don't… I don't _know. _And it kills me because I don't know. I don't even know who I am!"

Naruto paused, before clapping his hands together. "That's easy— you're Sasuke. You're Uchiha Sasuke, the most annoying, anti-social, bastard the world has ever seen!"

"…Moron."

"Oh yeah; I'm going out to get pizza. Come with?"

"Hn." He stared at his desk, considered his options, and then stood up. "Fine. But you're paying _and _I get a free can of coke."

"Wha—? That's not fair! At least buy the coke!"

"But then it's not free."

"Ah—! _Bastard_!"

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"He's on the move. Should I follow him?"

—static. "_Of course. Do not let him out of your sight; proceed as normal."_

"…He's with a friend. Should I still—?"

—more static. _"Before I answer the question, why don't you have a guess? Of course; I said proceed as normal! You attack him and his friend; preferably killing his friend. And then you come back to me. Understand?"_

"…One-sama, are you absolutely sure? Surely, if Four-san kept him alive, it was for a reason."

—static, static, static. _"Do you doubt me, Five? Just bring the boy!"_

"…Of course, One-sama."

—beeeeep.

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"—pizza, pizza, PIZZA! Pizza, pizza, PIZZA!" Naruto chanted, pumping his fists into the air in time with his little song.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"What—?! Sasuke-bastard, don't let me bring you down. I know how happiness and joy makes you feel and all. Just tell me if I'm making you uncomfortable."

"You are such a moron."

The blonde cheered, "Yup, that's me! Uzumaki 'Such-A-Moron' Naruto! And you, Sasuke-teme, need to have fun." He turned to the counter-boy, grinning happily. "One meat feast and one margherita pizza. He wants a margherita 'cause he's boring!"

A fist collided with Naruto's forehead.

"OW! What was that for, you bastard?!"

"Being an idiot." The Uchiha sighed, before pointing at a table for two, next to the window. "I'll go and sit down. You're paying. And remember the coke."

"Coke? What coke—? ACK! STOP HITTING ME!"

"Don't be so loud." And with that last warning, Sasuke turned and walked away, leaving the blonde rubbing his aching head. He sat down, resting his head in his hands, and then turned and gazed out of the window.

A tall man, with electric blue hair, gazed back at him.

Sasuke blinked, peering harder at the man. He was tall and light-skinned; in fact, was his skin blue? It looked blue. He wore sunglasses and a long leather coat, hiding his entire body; as Sasuke looked closer, he noticed that one hand was hidden inside the coat, as though it were holding something—

—a gun?

The man began to walk closer, crossing the road; and then, just as they were opposite each other, with only a glass window separating them, the man stopped and looked past him.

"—I got your pizza, Sasuke-bastard."

As if in slow motion, the man pulled his hand out of his coat. Sasuke's eyes widened; he turned to Naruto ("get down!") and then—!

BANG, BANG, BANG.

Three gunshots, one right after the other; and then Naruto was falling, crashing down onto the table and staring blankly at the ceiling. It was as though time itself stopped; suddenly, the man outside was circling around, throwing open the door, stepping into the building.

Screams.

Panic.

Sasuke turned; his face was pale and deathly-white. He gazed up at the newcomer— something cold was pressed against his forehead. The gun.

"You're coming with me." The voice promised nothing but a slow and painful death.

"Like fuck he is."

BANG.

Sasuke blinked; the voice was so familiar. Who—? He turned and gazed down at Naruto's lifeless body— apart from, it wasn't so lifeless. In fact, Naruto was panting breathlessly, clutching a gun and glaring up at the man.

"AKATSUKI, right? Shit, I _knew _this would happen." The blonde staggered to his feet, cursing loudly, before peering at the Uchiha. "Sasuke? You're not hurt, are you? C'mon, we need to get out of here."

"Who are you?"

"…I'm Uzumaki 'Such-A-Moron' Naruto." He smiled sadly. "Nothing's changed, Sasuke. I just know a lot more than you think."

"Who's that?" He turned to stare at the man writhing on the floor. "Why did he shoot you? What's going on?"

"…We need to get out of here, Sasuke. I'll explain all when we're at LEAF. You got that?" Naruto paused, before grinning. "Hey, I'll even get you your free coke." And then his voice hardened. "But we need to get out of here, before more come."

He paused, frowned, and then—

"Fine, moron, but it had better be a good explanation."

"Tch, of course!"

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Five sighed, flicking open his phone. He dialed the number, scowled, and then punched the floor, cursing. "Shit."

"_Heh. It's fucking dandy to hear from you too."_

"Seven. I lost him."

"_No wonder you're pissed! One's gonna kill you; you're so goddamn dead and I don't know what the fuck you want me to do about it."_

"He's going your way. Look out for a black Toyota MKIV Supra. You can't miss it—"

"—_shit, you mean the car which just passed me?! Fuck."_

A chuckle.

"It seems I'm not the only one who One-sama's going to kill. See you then, Seven. It's a date."

"_Bastard—!"_

—beeeeep.

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"Isn't this weird? We're sat here sipping tea together! Have we ever done this before? I mean—"

"—Naruto, shut up."

"…Your mood's as bad as ever. Jeez, when will you take that stick outta your ass? It pisses the hell out of me!"

"Shut. Up."

The blonde scowled, pressing his foot down on the accelerator; his Toyota began to speed up and then sped around a corner. Naruto let out a cheer, before glancing at Sasuke. "You look pale. You had questions you wanted to ask?"

"Who am I?"

"Didn't I tell you?"

"You lied."

"…To protect you." Naruto sighed, looking away. "You were part of LEAF once; an assassination group. And the AKATSUKI captured you and tortured you; they tried to use you against us; so we swooped in there and KA-BAM. We rescued you. But you were stabbed— we don't know who by— and you lost your memory. Amnesia. We set you on your way; but I didn't like it. So they let me go; well, they told me to protect you and that's what I did."

"You were my babysitter." Sasuke sounded incredulous.

Naruto sniggered. "I've been wiping your ass ever since LEAF let me go. Not because it was my job."

Silence.

"Back when you were in LEAF, we were like brothers. Team SEVEN. No one could stop us. Invincible. And then they captured you and _she _went in straight after you. We couldn't find her. She was gone; and you lost your memory."

_((Shouts._

"_Where is he?! WHERE?! Oh God, SASUKE! Please, WHERE ARE YOU? I'm coming! I'll save you! SASUKE!"_

_He tried to respond, to tell her to run, to flee, to get away—_

"_SASUKE!"_

—_but she couldn't hear him or he couldn't speak; he didn't know which._

"_SASUKE!"))_

"—Sasuke?" Naruto called, waving a hand in front of the Uchiha's face. "Sasuke, are you okay? You went all quiet."

"Nightmare."

"In the middle of the day? What was it this time?"

"I heard— I heard a woman."

"…"

"What was her name? I can't— I can't remember. Who—? I can't—! Who was she, Naruto? I can't— I can't… I can't remember! I can't—!"

THUMP.

"Sorry, Sasuke, but I really need you to shut up."

His eyelids closed and he slumped forwards, sleeping soundlessly. Naruto frowned, staring long and hard at him, before gazing back at the road. He swerved easily past a white van, speeding through a red light.

"…Her name was…"

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_((Lights flashing. Bright, shining, hurting, painful. Flash, flash, flash. _

_A shadow._

"_This won't hurt a bit, Uchiha-san."_

_Pain._

_White-hot, never-ending pain._

_Writhing, convulsing, screaming._

_Such terrible, terrible pain!_

"_Oh dear. It seems I lied."_

_Soft, gentle brown eyes— girl's eyes and, yet, the eyes of a man— staring down at him. Terrible eyes, but so beautiful. A child's face, yet so adult. Pale lips turned upwards in a smirk. Messy, unkempt red hair. The Doctor. _

_His name, his name…_

_A badge glittered in the dim light; what did it say, what did it say?! Sa…Sas…_

_DR. SASORI._

…

_Such pain.))_

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"…Ah…"

"Sasuke? Another dream, huh?" Naruto yawned, stretching; it was then that Sasuke noticed that the car had stopped and night had fallen. He glanced around.

"Where are we?"

"Halfway to no-where."

"Hn. Moron." Sasuke paused, leaning forwards and resting his head in his hands; Naruto leaned back, his feet placed on the dashboard, and the pair sat silently together.

"…What was your dream about?"

"It was a memory. Your words made me remember something; probably from when they caught me. It was… a name. A person."

Naruto tilted his head, staring at his friend. "Who?"

"A doctor. Sasori, I think. He had red hair and looked like a kid; but he was wearing white and holding a needle."

The blonde froze, paling rapidly. "…Sasori? You were kept prisoner by number Nine; AKA, Scorpion. Shit. I feel for you."

"…I can't remember any of it. Only the pain. I can't even remember what he was doing; searching for something? I don't know… I can't remember."

"I know. It's not your fault." Naruto frowned, staring out of the window. "But, that night… Nothing went as planned. Half the reason why I left was because I thought there was someone in league with the AKATSUKI in LEAF. I don't know who."

"Then we should find out."

Naruto turned to Sasuke, obviously shocked. "That would be the equivalent of turning against LEAF! We'd be outsiders; just like the AKATSUKI. _The bad guys_!"

"No. You've already said it, haven't you? They think I can't remember anything, but I'm beginning to. They've basically dismissed you. We can destroy AKATSUKI and find out what LEAF was up to. We can stop them. We've got to. So that— we can find her."

Silence.

"…Shit! This is _not _good! I can't believe I'm letting you talk me into this." A sigh. "We're going to need to get equipment. As much as we can. And data."

"I can hack."

"Great. Awesome. Spectacular."

"…"

"We're so dead."

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_password, please._

(typing)

(processing… processing…)

_you may enter._

_welcome, **KITSUNE**._

(click, click)

_who would you like to contact?_

_h y u u g a_

_n e j i_

(processing… processing…)

_you are being connected._

(processing… processing…)

"Hey, moron. Who's this Hyuuga-guy?"

"He's head of the Intelligence Department and head of ANBU; you were originally head of ANBU, along with me, but then we left, so… Anyway, he's really clever plus he owes me."

"Hn."

(processing… processing…)

_**WHITE RABBIT** can now be contacted._

_proceed?_

_y e s_

(processing… processing…)

"White Rabbit?"

"It's 'cause of his eyes. They're white and creepy."

_loading picture._

_picture loaded._

_thank you for waiting, **KITSUNE**._

The screen buzzed and then flashed, before going completely black. And then suddenly a picture filled the screen; a young man, wearing a pair of glasses, glowered darkly at them, brushing a strand of long, dark-brown hair out of his eyes.

And what unusual eyes they were! Such a startling, bright white.

He frowned, and then his eyes widened. _"Naruto…?"_ His voice sound muffled and slightly crackly.

"The one and only."

"_Is that Sasuke?"_

"Yup. He's starting to remember stuff. And he's not a happy bunny."

"_Not funny, moron." _Neji sighed. _"What do you want?"_

"We need info, Neji, and quick." Naruto said, before pointing at Sasuke. "Seriously, he really isn't happy and neither am I. Remember that lead I told you about?"

"_Yes. According to you, we have a snake in our midst."_

"Yeah, that lead." Naruto paused. "I need you to open a hole in the AKATSUKI files. We need them. Badly."

White eyes widened. _"What—?"_

"Come on, Neji! Don't ask questions, just open the hole. Say it was never there. Put it under my name. I don't care! This is really, really important!"

Sasuke paused, peering sideways at Naruto; he'd never heard the blonde speak so seriously and in such an urgent tone of voice.

"…" Neji sighed, pushing his glasses further up his nose. _"…Fine. If you get caught, I was never in on it. Understood? Because, unlike you, I value my job."_

"Thanks!" Naruto cheered, in a sing-song voice. Neji merely shook his head and the screen went blank. "Okay—" Naruto turned to smile at Sasuke. "—on with the next part of the plan, right?"

"Of course."

_welcome, **KITSUNE**._

_s e a r c h_

_A K A T S U K I_

_searching._

_**AKATSUKI** files found._

_**ACCESS DENIED**._

_**PASSWORD NEEDED**._

"WAH! What type of hole is this?!"

"Moron. Type in the password."

"What password?!"

"Your name."

(typing)

(_n a r u t o_)

_**ACCESS GRANTED**._

_welcome, **KITSUNE**._

_search…_

_A K A T S U K I_

_m e m b e r s_

(loading… loading…)

_known members;_

_number **one**;_  
_unknown._  
_unknown._

_number **two**;_  
_Orochimaru._  
_alive._

"Print them off." Sasuke murmured, gazing down at the list. "It's not particularly helpful, since you know barely any of them—"

He froze.

_number **eleven**;_  
_Uchiha Sasuke._  
_amnesia._

Naruto blinked, turning to look at him. "You're part of AKATSUKI? N—No…"

"No…" Sasuke repeated, quietly.

"That doesn't make sense! They were after you! AKATSUKI were going to kill you! How could you be part of— it doesn't make any sense—!"

"It makes perfect sense."

"What?"

Sasuke turned, staring directly at Naruto. "You're going to have to trust me. I was never a part of AKATSUKI. This—" he gestured wildly at the screen. "—this proves that there's a traitor in LEAF."

Naruto didn't say anything.

"—And," Sasuke continued, ignoring the blonde's silence. "—I'm going to kill them. All of them. AKATSUKI will die by my hand."

Still silence.

"Do you trust me?"

"…I suppose… Of course I do! We're Team SEVEN! We'll kick their asses together!"

Smile.

_goodbye, **KITSUNE**._

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5:55:49 pm

"HYUUGA!"

Neji winced, turning his chair around to glare at the source of the noise. Lady Tsunade, AKA; PRINCESS, glowered back at him, hands on her hips, her brown eyes dark and deadly.

"What the _fuck _is this supposed to mean? Last night, at about four 'o' clock, you were talking to someone; and that person wasn't registered on the database. Ten minutes later, the AKATSUKI files are hacked into. What the fuck have you done?"

Although Neji had said he'd blame it all on Naruto, to save his own skin, he had more dignity than that; and Naruto had known it too. All in all, it had been a pretty cheap trick on Naruto's behalf, and Neji was pissed.

"What are you implying, Princess-sama?"

"Are you fucking with me, White Rabbit? What the hell's going on— and, goddamn it, you'd better tell me!"

"…It was a security breach. Nothing more."

"Who were you talking to? And don't try and lie!" Tsunade warned.

Neji paused, before looking away. "I was talking to Uchiha Sasuke. He said he had information on AKATSUKI."

Tsunade froze. "Uchiha…?"

"The one and only."

She scowled; she twisted, punched the wall, and then cursed. "Shit! Of course he's going to have information! That traitorous sonofabitch!"

"…?" Neji blinked.

Tsunade waved a hand airily, ignoring his befuddlement. "You're not supposed to know; you don't have access to the AKATSUKI files. Right, I want the breach sorted out; passwords changed, etcetera. Get Poker-Face to do it."

"Of course."

"And don't you dare fuck with me like that again!"

"…" Neji watched her leave, silently, thoughtfully. Then, without a moments hesitation, he turned to his laptop.

_welcome, **WHITE RABBIT**._

_search…_

_A K A T S U K I_

_f i l e s_

_searching._

_**AKATSUKI** files found._

_**ACCESS DENIED**._

_**PASSWORD NEEDED**._

Neji smirked.

"Bingo."

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_(("Ah, Uchiha-san. Good to see you again; well, hah-hah. I mean, it's not like you can move. I bet it hurts. It does, doesn't it? Oh dear. Poor you."_

_Pain._

_Agony._

"_H—Help m—me…"_

"_Oh, really. Now why would I do that? Try not to sound too pathetic, Uchiha-san." Sasori smiled slightly, stepping forwards; and then he paused, gazing at his watch. "…I'm late. I hate being late."_

"_Aah… AAH. UGH. AH, AH, UGH—!"_

"_I have to rush now, Uchiha-san. Oh dear. I'm being awfully messy."_

"_ARGH! UGH!"_

"_Now, hurry and show me your sharin—!"))_

"—Sasuke?! Wake up and stop screaming! God, you scared the shit out of me!" Naruto muttered, staring at the other.

Sasuke hissed, wiping the sweat from his face. "Where are we?"

"Huh?" Naruto grinned. "We're going to see my old sensei. The Pervy Sage."

"…Seriously?"

"What?"

"He's not really called 'the Pervy Sage', is he?"

"Pfft; he might as well be. But he's good. Real good. He'll help us find Scorpion. And the others."

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TO: number unknown  
FROM: 123

Sasuke's back. With Naruto. AKATSUKI files are in their hands. Need you to block the AKATSUKI files.  
— W.R

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Sai blinked, gazing at his phone. Sasuke was back? Ooh, intriguing. And they had the AKATSUKI files. No wonder White Rabbit wanted them blocked—

—no, that didn't make sense.

White Rabbit was head of the Intelligence Department.

He purposefully let them see the files, even though he'd never seen them himself. "Naughty, naughty. What are you up to, I wonder?"

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TO: 123  
FROM: number unknown

What are you up to, W.R? Those files = can't be seen without a password. Who gave them the password?  
— P.F

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Neji scowled.

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TO: number unknown  
FROM: 123

Don't ask questions. Just work.  
— W.R

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Sai chortled merrily, before continuing with his job. He changed the password easily, having already figured out what the Naruto password would be (his name, of course). Then he picked up his phone and deleted the messages.

It seemed things were finally getting interesting.

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	2. —hot pursuit, honey—

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STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIED

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**__b_e_**_s_t

(it's getting hot!)

**___se_rv_**_e_d

(burnin' like flames)

______**h**o_t

(will you hold my hand?)

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"Ah, I think I've told you this before; see, my memory just keeps going, every now and then. It's really unfortunate, don't you think?" Wide brown eyes stared innocently down at blurry, onyx eyes; had it not been for the sinister smirk, the twisted gaze or, perhaps, the threatening needle he was brandishing, Uchiha Sasuke would have thought it was a little girl standing over him; maybe a boy.

"—well, well. This is new." The red-head frowned, before pointing directly at Sasuke's face; the Uchiha hissed, turning his face away. "Your eyes have gone red! This must be—" A strange, muffled word; what was it, why couldn't he remember?! "—it's extraordinary and just what we've been looking for. Of course, I'll have to do some more tests and then I'm sure you can go home free!"

"T—this isn't a doctor's appointment…" He panted, straining against his bonds. "You— you're going to kill me."

"How clever of you! I can't guess how you figured it out."

Sasuke ignored him, looking wildly around the room; his vision was blurred and hazy, but he could make out some of the details. There was no window and the only source of light was a dim bulb, which swung lazily from the ceiling. He wondered briefly how Sasori could see anything; and then decided it didn't matter. He didn't care; he was past caring. Behind Sasori, was a table and on that table was an assortment of sharp and pointy objects; knives, scalpels and other such operating equipment. There was a group of nasty looking needles, balanced precariously on a pile of books, and also a group of messy papers.

A sharp jolt of pain ran through his body, and he arched his back, gritting his teeth and letting out a slight hiss of agony.

Sasori smiled. "Whoops, sorry; I should have warned you, right? It's just—" the small man glanced at a gold pocket-watch and promptly frowned, his upper lip curling in distaste. "—I'm late."

"D—don't let me s—stop you."

"I don't plan on it." Scorpion said cheerily, as he removed the needle in a torturously slow fashion. He frowned, staring at the dark blood which glistened in the dim lighting; he seemed to consider something and then pocketed the sample of blood, and smiled.

"See you tomorrow, Uchiha Sasuke. We'll see how long Avenger can fair for, before AKATSUKI make him squeal, hm?"

"E—eat shit and die, m—motherfucker."

Sasori's smile widened as he left; and then suddenly, the room was plunged into darkness.

((let me see the daylight again))

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"Sasuke, we need to do some serious thinking." Uzumaki Naruto murmured, placing his coffee down and staring over the table at the other boy; the blonde had managed to find quite a nice, quiet little café for them to eat in.

Sasuke closed his eyes, arching his perfect eyebrows in mock surprise. "I'm not sure if we should, dobe; I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Seriously, I mean it! We need to get some contacts within LEAF; we need people who can help us really quickly, if we're in a pinch, and we need more information on AKATSUKI. We need to find out who the traitor is, in LEAF, and we need to find out where she is—!"

"Hold on, Naruto; I've told you all I can remember about AKATSUKI. I barely saw any of them, apart from Sasori, so he's our only lead. No matter what you say, that's where we should start first— and we need to see your Pervy Sage guy." Sasuke paused, before reaching across the table and stealing Naruto's coffee. "Then— then we'll destroy the rest of AKATSUKI."

Naruto seemed unimpressed. "And her?"

"We find her, no matter what. I don't care when— first, last, in between. As long as we find her, everything's okay. Like I said, Sasori's our only lead. He'll help."

"Willingly?"

"Where would be the fun in that?"

"Heh, too true!" Silence. "—give me back my coffee, you bastard!"

-

-

A door opened and in walked Number Three, her cloak billowing behind her; the mass-murderer stared inwards, gazing around the room impassively. She took in the dim lighting and the blank walls; she took in the absolutely empty room, counting the number of cracks and staring into every nook.

And then she strode in, carrying a bottle of water, holding her head high. "How do you feel?" Her voice was delightfully cold, echoing tunelessly through the room.

"L—like shit," A girl's voice croaked in response, and finally Three spotted her. She was huddled in the corner of the room, her black top ripped, her trousers torn; strands of dirty hair, which were once the brightest shade of cherry-pink, stuck to her sweaty forehead. Blood dribbled from her lips, down her pale face, and dripped pitifully onto her breasts— but that wasn't particularly surprising. After all, the girl was practically lying in a pool of her own blood.

"You look it, too."

"You're a—awfully chatty." The girl murmured, her head lolling uselessly; sorrowful emerald eyes stared up at her, no longer terrified.

"As are you, Haruno-san." She frowned, before placing the water bottle carefully in front of the other girl. "We could let you leave, Haruno-san."

"I—I hate it most when y—you visit me," Haruno stated, staring sadly at the bottle of water; she contemplated reaching for it, and then shook her head, looking away. "You t—try and make me give up. Y—you try and break me."

Three raised an eyebrow. "Is it working?"

"Not at all— you forget that I was always broken." A smile. "You can't hurt me but I know how to hurt you. When I get out of here, I'll kill you, you bitch, and you'll die knowing how broken I am. I'll make you feel the pain that I've been feeling for so long."

"Oh? And what pain is that?"

"The pain of an unreturned love; the pain of loving someone who can't even remember you're name." Haruno's smile widened. "When I kill you, I'll get him to watch. Oh, I know. I know, Konan. I know everything about you."

Three wouldn't let it get to her. She was the one in charge.

"And I know everything about Sasuke, Haruno-san. Let's not play these games, because I will always win. Perhaps I should pay the last Uchiha a personal visit."

"Which 'last Uchiha' would that be?"

"I'm supposing you don't want this water, then? Oh dear. It seems, Haruno-san, you will die far before I do. Goodnight, Haruno Sakura."

"Goodnight."

-

-

-

(woo, woo!)

**B—**e—_S_—t

(buuuurn!)

**S**—e—**r**—_v_—E—**d**

(spicy, sexy, seductive!)

**H**—o—_**t**_

(and the adventure continues!)

-

-

-

"Sasuke, let's make a list." Naruto announced, finally, after he'd drained the rest of his coffee; he tugged a piece of paper out of his pocket and then grinned happily as he laid it down on the table.

"Pencil, dobe."

"Ah, _shit_—! I thought I'd remembered everything!" The blonde scowled, rummaging through his pockets before pulling out a black biro. "—and I did! Here, Sasuke-teme, make your list already."

The Uchiha rolled his eyes. "A list of what?"

"Everything you can remember from your dreams." Naruto said, after a couple of seconds of thought. "We might find some valuable clues and stuff. I mean, you might remember a few more faces and a few numbers and other things which could help us."

Sasuke frowned, before picking up the pen. It wasn't that bad of an idea, actually, and he was surprised Naruto had come up with it— what with the blonde being an absolute moron. He began to write, in block capitals, DREA— and then he paused, glancing at Naruto.

"Hey, you have a gun, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, but only one." The Uzumaki muttered, glancing quickly from side to side. "Anyway, Sasuke, you can't talk so loudly about you-know-what; I mean, for all we know—"

BAM!

"OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Hn. You speak louder than I do, idiot." Sasuke rolled his eyes, before finishing his writing (DREAMS) and then staring down at the piece of paper. He ignored Naruto, tuning out from the blonde's rambling speech, and tried his hardest to remember.

And then—

((_the needle swoops lower, pierces his skin and draws blood. A different poison, another poison; surely he's felt them all now? But the good doctor is not done with him and what an excellent doctor he is! He is searching for something, something to do with his eyes, something to do with the sharin—))_

"—woah, Sasuke. What the hell does that mean?"

Sasuke blinked his eyes, looking blearily around; Naruto was leaning over the table, staring at the piece of paper. The Uchiha scowled and shoved him away (HEY!) before staring at the words he'd scribbled.

DREAMS;

Icouldbeyourhummingbird, whisperwordsinyourearandtellyouthatthepainisn'tthere.  
Icouldbeyourhummingbird, whisperwordsinyourearandtellyouthatthepainisn'tthere.  
Icouldbeyourhummingbird, whisperwordsinyourearandtellyouthatthepainisn'tthere.  
Icouldbeyourhummingbird, whisperwordsinyourearandtellyouthatthepainisn'tthere.  
Icouldbeyourhummingbird—

"What the fuck does _that _mean?!" Sasuke demanded, scowling angrily; he stared at the paper, glaring at his neat, tidy handwriting and then at Naruto.

The blonde shook his head. "No clue. But it wasn't really what I meant, when I said to write down what you could remember about AKATSUKI. I mean, you just wrote down shit. Are they lyrics to a song?"

"I don't listen to music."

"What a sad life you live!" Naruto chirped happily, before tugging Sasuke to his feet. "Come on, bring the paper. We'll ask Jiraiya-sensei, AKA; the Pervy Sage. He should know, maybe."

"What a definite answer."

"Oh, shut up."

They wandered slowly over to the car; Naruto's number one prized possession ("myyyy TOYOTAAAH!"), and slid in. They sat in silence, still thinking, still contemplating the meaning of life, and then finally, Naruto switched the engine on and off they went.

((now if she does it like this, will you do it like that?

now is she touches like this, will you touch her right back?

now if she moves like this, will you move her like that?

shake, shake, shake, shake, a—shake it!))

"My phone," Sasuke blinked, sounding mildly surprised. "That's odd. You're the only person who has my number."

"So you think!"

"Hn." He gazed down at the caller ID, blinking, and then pressed 'accept'. "Hello?" He murmured, pressing the phone to his ear.

"_Uchiha-san."_

"Uh…" Sasuke frowned. "Hyuuga, wasn't it?"

"_Of course." _Ah, so he did recognize that cold, arrogant voice! _"You were found out. Tell Naruto that Princess-sama figured it out, just minutes after he'd taken the files he needed. Tell him that I owe him nothing."_

Sasuke did, though in a somewhat pissed-off fashion. "Anything else?"

"_Tell him—" _There was an odd silence and Sasuke felt like he was intruding on something; Neji's soft, measured breathing could barely be heard. _"—tell him that I'm helping him for my own benefit; things are, after all, just getting interesting."_

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, before covering his mobile with one hand and turning to Naruto. "Tch, moron; he said he'd help us."

"AWESOME!" Naruto practically roared, pumping his fist into the air.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, before placing the phone back next to his ear. Neji's muffled voice piped up, in perfect monotone, _"He sounds happy."_

"You heard that."

"_So did the deaf old lady walking down the street," _Sasuke could practically hear the Hyuuga's eyes roll, and found himself disliking the white-eyed man even more.

((—maybe because we're so similar—))

"_I'll keep you updated, Uchiha. I'll ask Cloud if he has any answers—"_

"—Cloud?"

"_Nara Shikamaru. He designed each of the gadgets and computers we use, here at LEAF; he organizes most of the top-rated files from afar. I took a look at the AKATSUKI files; I'm guessing they were fakes, and he has the real files. I'll get them and send them to you." _

Sasuke scowled. "Fine."

"…" A sigh. _"It's okay to accept help, Uchiha; believe it or not, I'm on your side." _Another sigh. _"We never got along before, so I doubt anything will change now."_

"But it's worth a try!" Naruto piped up, before being silenced by a blow to the forehead.

"—_oh, Uchiha? Tell Naruto he's a moron for sticking with you for so long; tell him to dump your sorry ass and get the hell out of there, before he dies. And then tell him I've been wrong before."_

—beeeeep.

"He hung up."

"That's just like Neji—!"

BAM!

"—ACK!? What the HELL was that for?!"

"…You annoy me."

-

-

"PERVY SAAAAGE! OPEN UP, OLD MAN!"

THWACK!

"—OW! What the hell, man?!"

"Shut up. Aren't you a ninja-spy-assassin thing? Aren't you supposed to be, I don't know, stealthy?"

"—Naruto? Stealthy?" A surprised voice joined in with the conversation. "There isn't a stealthy bone in that brat's body."

"SHUT UP!"

"Ugh… Stop yelling, already. You're so loud." A sigh and then, "This had better be quick; I was in the middle of doing some research."

"Pervert!"

"Sticks and stones, blondie; sticks and stones…" Another loud sigh. "Fine, fine; I'm coming. Is that Uchiha with you?"

"Yeah," Naruto grinned, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the sullen raven. "He's as moody as ever. He still can't remember much, though."

Two beady brown eyes peered out from behind a small glass window, and then there was the sound of locks scraping back. "Amnesia, right?"

"Of course! You're taking to long, old man! Hurry the hell up!" Naruto grinned, before placing one hand on Sasuke's chest; just as the Uchiha was about to tell him to 'get the fuck off', the blonde shoved him backwards. Sasuke stumbled, arms pin-wheeling wildly, and only just managed to regain his balance.

The door swung open; suddenly, there was a wild spray of bullets; a familiar noise Sasuke could somehow recognize as a machine gun. And the Pervy Sage, the good guy they'd come to visit, was shooting at Naruto.

And, yet, the blonde was still grinning, while dodging and running for his life.

"Your aim's still as bad as ever!" The Uzumaki taunted, rolling nimbly across the grass. "Missed me, missed me! Maybe you need glasses, old ma—"

"—shut up, idiot! You've got to be aware of dangers everywhere; and become stealthy, you dumbass! LEAF needs you alive!"

Sasuke blinked— he was, after all, more than slightly confused; he stared first at the sleek machine gun, and then at the old man who was cradling it. Spiky snow-white hair, tied back in a long, trailing ponytail, swung madly from side to side; he ducked and dodged and span, all the while shooting and making sure he purposefully missed Sasuke. He was dressed, strangely, in a green kimono and red waistcoat; he span easily on brown clogs, a katana at his side and kunai in his pocket.

Eventually, the machine gun ran out of bullets and Jiraiya turned to Sasuke, effectively ending the game. Naruto seemed only slightly disappointed.

No matter how strong Jiraiya seemed, Sasuke was reminded of just how old the man really was; the wrinkles stood out prominently against his strong features, and seemed to have been highlighted by the thin red lines he'd painted down his cheeks.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Before, you'd have pushed Naruto out of the way and fired right back at the enemy; and probably killed them, too." The old man chuckled. "And look what you've been reduced to! We're going to have to do some training, if you want to eliminate AKATSUKI. At the moment, they're out of your league."

"How did you—?"

"—I can read you like a book, Avenger." Jiraiya paused, before chuckling again. "Actually, anyone would be able to. It's not that hard, 'cause you're awfully predictable."

"…Shut up."

Jiraiya grinned and then wandered back inside his house. "Come on, hurry, hurry. I'd like to get started now so we can finish quickly."

Sasuke brushed Naruto's hand out of the way and stood up, dusting himself down; to be fair, he was also pretty pissed that Naruto had protected him (from someone who wasn't really much of threat, to be fair) once again. That would have to change, and soon.

The blonde simply shrugged, failing to see what was wrong with his friend, and sprinted into the house; Sasuke followed, muttering curses underneath his breath and acting gloomy in general.

"In here."

Sasuke's scowl grew darker, as he found himself narrowly avoiding the door Naruto had thrown open. The blonde laughed sheepishly, checked to make sure that no harm was done, and then stepped into the study. Sasuke followed, surprised (and disgusted) by the study.

One side of the room was just shelves filled with books— and after quickly scanning the many titles, he understood that most of them were porn. Naruto seemed to have tugged a book out of it's place and opened it, obviously not knowing what it was by its misleading title; Sasuke watched, amused, as the blonde paled and then blanched, dropping the book as though it was on fire.

"PERVERT!"

Jiraiya snorted and Sasuke span around, gazing at the other half of the room; at first glance, it just seemed like a normal office. Then Jiraiya knelt down and tugged at one of the floorboards; he began to shift them out of the way, until three were discarded and Sasuke could finally see what was so important.

"A suitcase."

"Of course," Jiraiya yanked the suitcase out of its hiding place and threw it towards Sasuke. "But this isn't mine; it's actually yours. You should read through it, figure out who you are, and then I'll start training you. No, what we want—" he hissed, searching blindly for something else and then grinning as he found it. "—is this."

He pulled a long cardboard box out of the gap and then placed it carefully on the floor; he tugged the lid off, revealing the contents to a fidgeting Naruto and a thoughtful Sasuke. The two boys blinked; Sasuke reached forward, picking up the top piece of paper, his face dark.

**Name: **Itachi, Uchiha  
**Alias: **WEASEL  
**Age: **20  
**Rank: **Fourth.  
**Relations: **Sasuke, Uchiha  
**Location: **Unknown.  
**Notes: **Massacred clan. One escaped. Dangerous; must be eliminated.

"Is this it?" He murmured, frowning. "Is this all we have on each of the members?"

"No," Jiraiya answered, as Naruto rummaged through the box. "It's simply all we have on your brother. He's one elusive bastard and definitely a weasel through and through. There's almost no chance of us catching him; he uses multiple identities and knows our methods much better than any of the others. He was, after all, once part of ANBU. Everything we know about his past, everything about his family… That's all kept in your little 'coming-of-age' suitcase."

Sasuke scowled, glancing over at the suitcase. He wanted to pick it up and sort through it; he wanted to find out why— "why, nii-san, why?"— and what was going on. But, instead, he sat still.

"Yes! I found it!" Naruto grinned, flinging a piece of paper in Sasuke's direction. "They have loads about Scorpion, so we'll tick him off first. 'Specially since you seem to be having reoccurring nightmares about him."

Jiraiya chuckled, ruffling Naruto's hair. "Nice one, kiddo; thinking about ickle Sasuke-kins first."

Naruto laughed sheepishly, trying to ignore the death-looks Sasuke was sending in his direction. He was not going to be in a good mood when they got into the car.

-

-

**Name: **Sasori  
**Alias: **SCORPION  
**Age: **Unknown. Expected to be in his mid-twenties, despite his appearance.  
**Rank: **Ninth.  
**Relations: **Supposedly related to SHUKAKU, member of SAND.  
**Location: **Woodbrook Avenue, 9; co-ordinates C37D49.  
**Notes: **Particularly experienced in methods of torture. Said to be working on an AKATSUKI based project. Obviously a valued member of the team. May occasionally be known as 'Sasori of the Red Sand' or 'the Doctor'. Drives a black Bentley; seems to hold it as a 'prized possession'. Keeps good care of it. Child-like in appearance, due to constant facial changes; known to use plastic surgery to disguise himself. Said to have created a drug which means he can control the user of it. Could be useful.

-

-

Sasuke scowled, leaning over into the backseat. "Where the fuck do you keep your maps, Naruto? Haven't you ever thought about cleaning this thing out?"

"Where would be the fun in doing that?" Naruto grinned, gazing at Sasuke in the mirror. The Uchiha merely swore in response, growling slightly as he rummaged through the mess. "I think it's slightly to your left. Yeah, there—!"

"—found it." He emerged from the back, looking slightly flustered but triumphant, and settled back down in his seat. Almost immediately, he scowled. "What the hell? The co-ordinates here are all completely different to the ones Jiraiya's put down."

"Ah, mine are in code. You have to reverse the alphabet and then you'll find it. So, Z on mine is equal to A on his. B to Y. And C would equal X—"

"Found it, then."

Naruto leaned over, peering at the map; he raised his eyebrows, blinking. "Hey, that's not actually far from here. We could get there in another three hours—"

"—then I'm going to sleep. Wake me and you die."

"…Fine, prima donna."

"I heard that, dobe."

-

-

_((Soft red hair falling against his lips, as the man leans down, checking his temperature. Cold brown eyes stare directly at him—_

—_marbles. That's what they look like. _

_They're as fake as marbles.))_

I'm coming to get you, you bastard.

_((Lips move, murmuring words; fingers trace his skin, cold against his wounds. His arms are wrenched upwards, pinned above his head as the man traces the wounds on his chest._

"_Oh, no good, no good… This will not do… I can't have already broken my toy, can I? Oh, and One-sama said to let this one last…"_

_Brown eyes meet black._

"_You should have seen Four-san's face when he saw you. I wonder, was it guilt I saw? Or perhaps he was ashamed? Ashamed that his little brother could be caught, tortured, and broken so easily. Maybe he still loves you…"_

_A small smile._

"_Or maybe he wishes he'd killed you."))_

You fucked with my head.

I'll enjoy killing you.

((—SUKE!))

Who are you?

Why can I hear your voice?

((SASUKE!))

Why do you keep calling me?

((SASUKE, I—!))

"—Sasuke, bastard, wake up. We're almost here and we have no idea what we're going to do." Naruto murmured, effectively ending the girl's shout. What would she have said? "C'mon, Sasuke, any ideas?"

"None."

"Great. Just great." Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, hurrah— let's go down with a bang and leave pretty corpses! Because, if we don't know what we're doing, this is going to be a massacre."

Sasuke sighed, leaning his head on his hands and staring out the window. They zoomed passed a group of girls, giggling, their arms linked; behind them, he noticed, were a group of what looked like warehouses.

"Pull over here."

Naruto blinked, startled, and then did so, pulling over just in front of the girls. They stopped, muttering angrily amongst themselves, and Sasuke threw open the door, jumping out. He paused, glancing from the warehouses to the girls, and then smirked at them. "Hello, ladies," He wandered over, his hands in his pockets, as they swooned. "Could you answer something for me? Are those warehouses used anymore?"

"Ah, no!" The first girl answered, brushing through her tied-back ginger hair with pale fingers. "Actually, some of them are. D and E are entirely abandoned. But, number 13 isn't used."

"It's not a thirteen," a taller girl argued, scowling. "It's a B. It's quite obviously a B because it's right after A."

"But it looks like a 13! And, besides, that makes it way scarier!" The girl paused, turning to stare at Sasuke. "Why d'you want to know, anyway?"

"Don't be rude, Moegi!" The taller girl scolded.

"Ah, Moegi, is it? I was looking for a part-time job; high school's fun, but it doesn't exactly pay well." He rolled his eyes as the girls laughed at his joke. "I might see if I can work at warehouse A, then."

"A isn't normally very busy. I doubt anyone will be there today." Moegi informed him.

"Thanks for the information. See you around." He waved briskly, heading back to the car; almost immediately, he turned to Naruto.

"Jeez, what was that all about? I almost knocked those chicks over." Naruto scowled, crossing his arms.

"How far are we from Sasori?"

"About a few streets. Why?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, obviously intrigued.

"No questions asked. I want you to stay here and wait inside warehouse D; you'll need to ditch your car somewhere easy to get to, but far enough from here. I'm going to get Sasori, and I'll take him back to where you are. Then we'll find out all we need to know."

Naruto paused. "Why D?"

"E isn't used, and does it look like anyone's working in C? No, D's definitely the best one. According to them, A is usually busy." Sasuke explained, gazing swiftly at his reflection in the mirror. "Do we know which car Sasori's using?"

"Why?"

"What did I say about questions?" He paused, before sighing. "I'm going to use it to get him to the warehouse. Anyway, which car?"

"It's a black Bentley, according to Jiraiya's notes, so it should be pretty easy to spot." Naruto paused, before whistling softly. "A Bentley, hey? Jeez, the guy knows how to treat himself. I wanted one of those, but this car just called to me—"

"—see you in a bit," Sasuke murmured, swinging open the car door and leaving for the second time. Ignoring Naruto's protests, he stuck his hands in his pockets and sauntered, quite calmly, down the road; Naruto had said he should've waited for his ANBU-ninja (or whatever they were) skills to kick in, but there was no chance of that happening. Besides, Sasuke was sure he could go with the flow and just do whatever came naturally to him.

After wandering for a little while longer, and passing a young mother and her toddler, he spotted the Bentley and what looked like Sasori's house. It was quite small, just like the other houses on the street, and looked more like a bungalow. The front lawn was mowed and the flowers were all neatly arranged; the bushes had even been trimmed into different shapes. Without taking a second look at the house, he continued past it, stopping outside the house three doors down.

He pressed the doorbell, waiting patiently. Eventually, the door opened, and a teenager in a short dress appeared, speaking in to her mobile phone. "—listen, Melissa, I _told _you I wasn't going!" She paused, looking Sasuke up and down. "Oh my _God. _You will not _believe _how cute this guy is! Yeah, he's a mega hunk. Look, I'll send you a picture."

Before Sasuke could even speak, she'd hung up and snapped a photo of him. Then, smirking slightly, she stuck her hands on her hips. "So, anyway, what is it that you want?"

"…do you know who lives at number 9?" Sasuke asked, before continuing with his lie. "I'm doing a project at school, and I need to know some facts about Bentleys. I was told the guy at number 9 owned one, but I wasn't sure of his name."

She paused, swinging forwards so that she could peer down the street; and thrusting her entire body at Sasuke as well. "Number 9, right? I think his name's Sasori; ooh, he's the one with the sexy car! I wonder who told you to visit him… I mean, no one goes to his house at all." She grinned. "But I'm sure you could look 'Bentley' up, just as easily, on my computer…" She let her offer trail off suggestively.

Sasuke shook his head. "Thanks anyway." He twisted on his heels and strode briskly down the steps. He could feel her eyes on his back, until he passed Sasori's house; then he heard a soft 'thud' as the door swung shut, and felt it was safe to turn around.

Now he could put his plan into action.

-

-

Sasori was very proud of his Bentley. He'd spent ages looking for the perfect model, the perfect colour, the perfect interior— and even when he'd bought this one, he was constantly fiddling with the engine and changing it slightly. He'd spent so long on it, that it was possibly one of his prized possessions. It was sleek and smooth and distinguishable. When he climbed inside, he became Scorpion again; dangerous and wicked.

It was only fair that he took the car for a test run at least once every night.

He reached for his keys, slinging his jacket over his shoulder; he was only vaguely aware of the eyes that watched him, constantly, from across the road— as they always did. Night after night, he'd feel those eyes on him; tracking him.

However, they did not bother him. He'd long since found out who the eyes belonged to and, now, even the thought of them made him laugh.

_Chiyo. _What could Elder Chiyo do to hurt him? Chiyo, who was once a valued member of SAND, who once cared and loved him. She was no danger to him— of course not; if anything, she was merely a nuisance. The old woman no doubt watched him because of her own silly needs; how was her grandchild, was he eating well, how had he grown up?

Did he still love her; remember her?

He chuckled merrily, shaking his head, and stepped out into the open air. Chiyo's eyes were still on him; he could feel them, feel her presence, and he nodded in her direction as he passed. He knew those eyes would be now narrowed in outrage, and he took great pleasure in that fact.

He unlocked his beloved Bentley, striding around to sit in the drivers seat. He shut the door, busied himself making sure everything was fine and dandy, before switching on the engine. He took one look in the rear view mirror, checking to make sure everything else was fine—

—and then a belt was hooked around his neck, and he was gasping desperately for breath. His hands clawed, for a moment or so, at the thin piece of leather, his eyes flicking backwards and forwards, from the rear view mirror to the side mirrors.

Who—?

"Drive. I'll tell you when to stop."

The voice was familiar, but Sasori couldn't quite put his finger on it. Instead, he did as he was told, relaxing slightly as the leather was loosened. The car began to move, slowly, at first, before gaining speed as he followed his attacker's directions.

He was forced to slow as the leather tightened once again; his eyes flickered to the left and right, taking in the scenery. It seemed they had slowed down beside the warehouses, not too far from his home.

"Turn into B."

Sasori paused, before doing so. He knew full well B was abandoned; he would, as Scorpion, occasionally take his enemies to do away with them. He wondered if his attacker knew this; wondered how well prepared the other man was, and then slowed his car down to a halt.

They were parked just inside the warehouse; he heard the backdoor swing open and then shut. Short, quick footsteps— and then a gun was pressed against his head, and he was ushered out of the car.

"It's amazing." The voice murmured softly in his ear. "The amount of tools I found in your car; makes me wonder what you've been up to."

"It would give you nightmares… Uchiha-san."

-

-

Naruto paused, leaning heavily against the bonnet of his car. Where was Sasuke? The bastard said he'd only be quick and he still wasn't there yet.

"It was warehouse D, right?" He murmured, to no one in particular.

"Are you waiting for your friend, Kitsune?"

Naruto blinked, sitting upright; he recognized the voice, but he hadn't heard it for so long; and, besides, he hadn't liked it when he'd first heard it. "Grandma Chiyo? What are you doing here?"

"I am completing my mission. However, that should not bother you." The old woman stepped forwards, her grey hair pinned up into a bun on the top of her head. "In fact, what should bother you, is your hyperactive little friend. It seems he's kidnapped my grandson and taken him to warehouse B."

"Please don't say you want the sonofabitch back."

"I don't. But your friend could be in some trouble." There was silence, and then— "I recognized him. Avenger, wasn't it?"

"Yeah…" Naruto paused, before straightening. He wandered to the boot of his car, unlocking it and throwing it open; almost immediately, he began to rummage through the messy contents.

"He had amnesia."

"And then he remembered," Naruto murmured, as he pulled out what he was looking for; a sleek, silver handgun. He placed it in his back pocket, before reconsidering and tugging out a thin sword; Sasuke, after all, had been badass with a sword, and he doubted a gun would win against Sasori.

Then, without a seconds thought, he raced out of the warehouse, towards B. No matter how fast he could run, there was only one thought running through his head. Would he make it in time?

After all, Sasori was one quick bastard.

-

-

"It would give you nightmares… Uchiha-san."

Sasuke scowled, cocking his gun and pointing it at Sasori's head. The redhead didn't flinch; instead, he turned and gazed directly into Sasuke's eyes. The Uchiha couldn't repress his shudder; he was surprised at how sinister he still found those eyes.

"I doubt, Uchiha-san, you have it in you. After you were stabbed… I heard you lost your memory. It's a shame, isn't it?" Sasori laughed and the sound echoed through the empty warehouse. "Now you can't remember our little chats."

"I can."

He was pleased to see surprise in the redhead's eyes; then the other laughed, nodding. "Of course, of course… Why else would you be here, if you couldn't remember? If you couldn't remember the pain, the agony…"

Sasori smiled.

"Her screams."

Sasuke swore, his finger twitching on the trigger. He longed to kill the bastard, but he couldn't. Not until he found out; not until he remembered everything. He moved the gun downwards, took aim, and fired.

Sasori crumpled to the ground, hissing curses as he nursed his wounded leg. Blood spread through his clothes, dripping to the ground— Sasuke merely watched. "You're going to tell me what I want to know, dickwad, or I'll keep shooting you."

Sasori hissed, tearing his eyes away from his wound to glower upwards at the Uchiha. His lips curved into a sinister smile; brown eyes narrowed. "Uchiha-san, LEAF have sent stronger men than your little girlfriend after me."

"Don't talk about her like that."

"What was her name? Haruno-chan…" Sasori straightened, wobbling slightly on his leg, but standing nonetheless. He stepped forwards. "Oh, but you can't remember, can you, Uchiha-san? Because I _made _you forget. _I _did it! _Me!_"

Sasuke hissed, one hand clutching his head; the screams, her cries, her voice… It was getting louder, stronger, clearer…

((SASUKE!))

He shot again.

Sasori smiled. "It seems, Uchiha-san, your aim is slightly off." Then he waved his hand airily, turning away. "And, Uchiha-san, I am not the one who should be explaining. I've left all of that to your darling brother…"

A smirk.

"…if you can find him, that is." Sasori sighed, before turning back around. "Well, One-sama would kill me if I didn't get rid of a possible threat, and I'm late enough as it is. If you would, perhaps, just hand me that gun."

((Icouldbeyourhummingbird, whisperwordsinyourearandtellyouthatthepainisn'tthere.))

"…no."

"How did I guess that would be the answer?"

And suddenly Sasori was stood directly in front of him; there was a flash of pain as the redhead bought his knee upwards. Sasuke doubled over, momentarily dropping the gun, as the pain shot through his body.

Sasori bent down, picked it up, and then straightened. He let out an exaggerated sigh, cocking the gun and pointing it at Sasuke's forehead.

"Well, say goodbye, Uchiha-san—"

"—SASUKE, CATCH!"

There was a flash of silver, and both Sasuke and Sasori threw themselves backwards. A thin, silver sword lay between them, clattering across the ground as it skidded towards Sasori; without a seconds thought, Sasuke dived after it. The redhead swore, pointing his gun at Sasuke; bullets ricocheted off the ground around him, as Naruto fired his gun blindly at the AKATSUKI member.

This time, Sasori was diving backwards, attempting to escape the madness around him. Sasuke swore loudly, scooping up the sword with one hand, and chased after the redhead; sunlight glinted off the blade, as it arched downwards.

Sasori barely managed to dodge. There was a spray of blood, as the blade lodged itself into the redhead's left shoulder blade; Scorpion cursed, pointing the gun at Sasuke's head— he felt the tip of a cold blade touch his neck.

"Stalemate, Uchiha-san."

"Not quite, Sasori."

Sasori blinked, unsure of whether he'd heard Sasuke correctly. Surely there were no tricks he could play, nothing else he could do? He was well and truly caught; he was stuck. Even an Uchiha had no chance of escaping this.

There was a moment of flashing, blinding pain, and Sasori coughed. Blood sprayed from his mouth, splashing across Sasuke's utterly impassive face; the redhead gazed down, his face a picture of innocent surprise.

"O—oh."

The end of a blade jutted out of his chest; it was red with his blood, only just reaching Sasuke's own chest. It would only leave a small scratch on the younger boy; Sasori, however, knew he was no where near as lucky.

He found himself smiling despite it all.

"O—of course. Chiyo-san."

Behind him, Chiyo stood. Her expression was unreadable. "Lay him down, Avenger. He deserves a moment of peace in his last minutes. You can ask him your questions then."

Sasuke paused, his eyes meeting Sasori's for what would no doubt be one of the last times. Then, with a soft sigh, he knelt down, pulling the redhead down with him; he let him lie on the ground, left him there, and then murmured his questions.

"Where is she?"

Sasori's voice was soft, and Sasuke could barely hear the answer. "U—Uchiha-san… I…"

The redhead smiled.

"…don't want to tell you."

And then he closed his eyes, still smiling that same smile, and died. Sasuke swore, tugging the dead body upwards. "Where the fuck is she, you bastard?" There was no response— then again, he hadn't expected one. He stood up, his eyes meeting Chiyo's. "He's definitely dead."

"What are you going to do with the body?" Naruto asked, but Sasuke barely heard him.

"I'm going to burn it. Feel free to search his house, though you will most certainly find nothing," Chiyo offered. "I have searched it many times, and come across nothing. Even Shukaku has looked around it."

"There's no point in us repeating the same thing over and over again," Naruto said, before waving cheerily. "Sasuke and I will be off now. See you again, grandma."

-

-

—static. _"Eight. Why are you calling?"_

"Hello to you too, Four, un."

—no response; silence.

"I found Nine-danna. He's dead."

—static, _static. "…how?"_

"By the looks of it, un, he was stabbed. Once through the chest. He also has numerous over wounds; a cut across his left shoulder blade, un, a gunshot wound on his leg, and marks around his neck; his Bentley's been abandoned here as well, un."

—static, and **more** static. _"…a sword?"_

"Yeah, un. A gun was abandoned here, too; but, it's his own. Do you have any idea who's done this, un?"

—_beeep._

"You fucking—! Don't hang up on me!"

-

-


	3. —dropping like flies, PRINCESS—

STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIED

-

-

"—_Scorpion is dead."_

Neji blinked, pushing his glasses up his nose. He glanced swiftly from side to side, checking to see if anyone was nearby, and then let out a loud sigh. "That was quick, Uchiha-san. I trust you're both unharmed."

"—_YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!"_

"—_dobe, give me back that phone."_

_THWACK._

There was a muffled protest. _"—WHAT WAS THAT FOR, YOU BASTARD?"_

The Hyuuga rolled his eyes, before coughing softly. "Sorry to interrupt your lovers tiff, but I'm sure there are far more important things to worry about. I shall have to report this to Princess-sama."

"—_there's no need. Chiyo said she'd be talking to ANBU, or whoever the fuck organizes this shit, about it."_

"—_tch, besides; Sasuke didn't actually kill Sasori. That was Chiyo. Sasuke just stood there and looked pretty, like normal."_

_BAM._

Neji chuckled, switching his laptop on. It whirred into life; the screen flashed briefly, and then turned entirely red. He blinked, frowning. "…how odd."

"—_what's odd?"_

The Hyuuga was momentarily startled at the sound of Sasuke's voice; then he smiled, closing his eyes. "It seems someone has tampered with my laptop."

"…_someone hacked your computer."_

"Yes." Neji sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This is actually quite annoying; I'll have to ask Princess-sama for a new one. I doubt she'll be pleased, either."

"—_what have they taken?"_

"I have no clue, Uchiha-san. If you would kindly be quiet whilst I try and sort the problem out, I would be very grateful." Neji smirked, chuckling despite himself at the Uchiha's disgruntled murmur and placed the phone on his desk; then he frowned, focusing on the matter at hand.

His fingers flew to his keyboard and he tapped a few keys; the screen flashed and he blinked.

__p a s s w o r d

___n e e d e d

A password? Neji sighed, pushing his glasses once again; it seemed this would take more time than expected— of course, there was no doubt that the Hyuuga would figure out the password. After all, he was a young prodigy.

Neji frowned, gazing at the screen. Something was off about all of this; why had it been his computer which was hacked? Although he was head of the Intelligence Department, and head of ANBU, all of the files which contained facts about either were kept in a different computer altogether.

He picked up his phone. "Uchiha-san? Could you hand the phone over to Naruto, please?"

"—_sure."_

Neji waited patiently, gazing at the screen; knowing the pair, they'd be driving and, knowing Naruto, the blonde would just have to pull over to answer the phone. "Naruto?"

"—_ha, this is new! The Hyuuga Neji wants my help! The child prodigy, boy genius, whatever they call you nowadays, is asking for the help of the always-last moron!"_

"Uchiha-san's memory returns to him and you ask for my help. Just a day later, Sasori is killed. And then my computer is hacked." Neji closed his eyes, ignoring the other's gloating. "It's quite obvious that the hacker is only doing this because of Uchiha-san's recent appearance, or Sasori's death. I can confirm that it's no one from LEAF or ANBU; they would simply ask me for whatever information they need, or ask Princess-sama—"

"—_so it's the traitor in LEAF! I knew it!"_

"I highly doubt that." The Hyuuga continued. "If there really is a traitor, he would have already known about Sasori's death, because he would be in touch with AKATSUKI. He would have known about Uchiha-san's reappearance; Princess-sama has placed a bounty on Uchiha-san's head, by the way. Using these facts, I can assure you that the hacker is an outsider who knows about everything that's happened recently."

Neji paused, opening one eye. He stared for a second at the computer screen, and then blinked, as Naruto spoke.

"—_so… it could be a friend?"_

"An outsider trying to help us? I suppose that is a possibility."

"—_yeah!" _Naruto was on a roll. _"It's got to be a friend! Otherwise, why didn't they just hack Shikamaru's computer, or go straight to Princess-san? It doesn't make sense!"_

"If I understand you correctly," Neji sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You're trying to tell me that the hacker is a friend. Not only is he a friend, he is also a friend of mine, trying to help me."

"…_maybe not you."_

"Please continue, Uchiha-san."

"…_and maybe not me, either. Maybe the hacker is working to help someone else who's involved with all of this and, to help that person, he has to ask for your help."_

"…I see. Could you give me a minute, Uchiha-san? I think I know the password now."

(typing)

(processing… processing…)

**_**_**w**__elc_ome, WHITE RABBIT._

Neji frowned, his eyes narrowing. "Uchiha-san, Naruto… It seems whoever our little hacker is has had plenty of experience hacking ANBU and LEAF machines before."

"—_ooh, ooh! Ask it who it is!"_

White Rabbit raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

There was a sheepish silence, before Naruto spoke again. _"—I saw it in a film once. Just type a question!"_

Neji sighed, before shrugging. It was worth a shot; after all, his laptop wasn't doing anything else except flashing slightly.

(typing)

(w h o a r e y o u ?)

(waiting… waiting…)

**_**_**a **__fr_iend._

"…It worked."

"—_see? TAKE THAT, SASUKE-TEME— OW!"_

"…_moron."_

(typing)

(s o y o u d o n t h a v e a n a m e t h e n ?)

(waiting… waiting…)

**_**_**f**__un_ny, W.R._

**_**_**yo**__u a_lready know who I am._

(typing)

(I h a v e n o i n f o r m a t i o n f o r y o u)

(waiting… waiting…)

**_**_**I h**__av_e information for you._

**_**_**CL**__OU_D is in danger._

Neji froze, and the screen flickered again.

**_**_**yo**__u m_ight want to tell KITSUNE._

The Hyuuga swore, scanning his desk quickly; he was famous, like any Hyuuga, for his remarkable eyesight. Everything was immaculate, as usual; nothing at all had been changed. Out of the corner of his eye, he scanned the exits; there were no cameras positioned above the doors and none on the windows. There were absolutely no cameras in the room.

Which meant the hacker was watching him from elsewhere.

(typing)

(p e r h a p s w e c a n f i n i s h t h i s c o n v e r s a t i o n f a c e t o f a c e ?)

(waiting… waiting…)

**_**_**yo**__u'l_l find me, W.R, when I want you to._

**_**_**a**__nd o_nly then._

"—_Hyuuga?"_

"What?" Neji barely murmured, his eyes still glued to computer screen, his brain whirring away.

"…_is everything okay?"_

"…I'm being watched. No doubt this phone conversation is also being monitored. This means, Uchiha-san, before you, or the moron with you, let out any secrets; I'll have to hang up on you."

"—_bastard—"_

—_beeep._

**_**_**se**__cre_ts, W.R? You have none._

(typing)

(a n d y o u h a v e p l e n t y)

(waiting… waiting…)

**_**_**I **__kn_ow._

(files are being sent.)

(load files?)

(y e s)

(loading… loading…)

**_**_**n**__o n_eed to thank me._

**_**_**I **__wa_nt her back too._

Neji froze.

**_FILE NAME:_**

Haruno, Sakura

-

-

-

**_FILE NAME:_**

(now it's time to get funky!)

**_**_**B**__e_st…_

(to the left!)

**_**_**S**__er_ved…_

(to the right!)

**_**_**H**__o_t…_

(take it back now, yo!)

-

-

-

"SHIKAMARU, YOU LAZY ASS-PUNK! YOUR PAPER IS TWO WEEKS OVERDUE— AGAIN!" Yamanaka Ino screeched, running one hand through her long blonde hair while throwing open the office door with the other.

Shikamaru blinked back at her, hidden behind towering piles of paperwork; he was crouched on the floor, shifting through boxes and other rubbish, when she stepped into the room. She glared at him, taking in the wonky reading glasses perched on his head, and his tired brown eyes.

"You stayed up late again last night, didn't you?!" She demanded, pointing one accusing finger at the other. "How many times do I have to tell you? You don't need to take work home—"

He rolled his eyes, straightening. Underneath his white lab coat, he wore a crumpled white shirt and slightly dirty jeans; he'd obviously thrown on a tie as an afterthought, and hadn't even bothered to do it up particularly well. He placed his glasses on the desk, waded briskly through the piles of paper to meet Ino, and then steered her out of the office.

"—unless it's paperwork which is due in the next day! In which case, take it home all you want! You do understand that Asuma-sensei needs this work in by today, don't you? It's very important!"

Shikamaru shrugged. "He knows I'm always late anyway. It's a drag, but I do have a reputation to keep up."

Ino scowled. "I really, _really, _hope you were just being funny; for your sake more than anyone else. See, if you could be more like Chouji, I wouldn't have to always do your papers! I need to use my spare time importantly, like—!"

"—going on dates and stuff, yeah… Ino, you say this every time I don't hand in paperwork…" He yawned, glancing sideways at the smaller blonde. "Anyway, what did you really need? You seem louder than normal."

"Huh?" The blonde blinked, looking quickly down at the clipboard she was carrying. "Oh yeah! There's this really cute guy who asked to see you and Asuma in private; Hyuuga Neji, I think he said his name was."

Shikamaru scowled. "How troublesome… He could have at least told me he was coming." He muttered something else, beneath his breath, but Ino couldn't quite make it out.

"Tch, it's rude to whisper!"

"And it's rude to eavesdrop."

"—I wasn't eavesdropping, you lazy idiot!" Ino roared, whacking the scientist over the head. "Go and get to work, otherwise I'll castrate you!"

"Jeez, troublesome woman…"

"I HEARD THAT!"

-

-

—ring, ring. "Yo, who is it, yeah?"

—buzz, static. _"Who do you think it is, Seven?"_

"Ah, One-sama. Fuck, d'you want Six? 'cause, seriously, I don't think he's fucking doing anything— probably counting his fucking precious money, the asshole. Hand him a piece of paper with a fucking face on one side, and he'll become your bitch, jeez—"

There was a tuneless chuckle. _"—I believe, Seven, he is already my 'bitch'. Now, I have a mission for you."_

"Me? Are you fucking sure you don't want me to pass it to that shithead, because, fuck it, this is the last chance you're getting."

—silence.

"Pfft, I'll take that as a no then. But Six'll be fucking pissed when he finds out. The dickwad says I can't organize anything, but he's a bastard, so—"

"—_silence, Seven."_

"…yeah, sorry 'bout that."

—a sigh. _"Perhaps I should have asked Seven to answer the phone. The damage seems to be done now; listen up. This is a very careful, extremely important, stealth mission…"_

"—sorry, could I just stop you for a second?"

"…_very well."_

"You want _me _to go on a stealth mission?! Are you fucking apeshit?! Isn't that more suitable for Red-eyes or someone? Because, seriously, stealthy? Me?"

"…_then I'll start talking your language, shall I? I need you and Six to eliminate a problem, for me. Leave no survivors— except one."_

"Who's the lucky bastard, then?"

—static, static, silence.

"_Bring me Nara Shikamaru."_

-

-

"Keep your motor running—!"

Sasuke scowled, his eye twitching, as he attempted to tune out the radio and Naruto's tuneless singing. Who knew the blonde could murder a classic so well? Even so, the Uchiha couldn't blame his friend for being bored; it had been Sasuke's idea to continue driving, in case anyone had managed to follow them, instead of stop as Naruto had suggested. To be fair, he was probably being paranoid— there was probably no one after them and they were perfectly safe— but Sasuke couldn't help but want to make sure.

Besides, he couldn't help but feel as though something was wrong.

Naruto had warned him, time after time, to be careful of Sasori; apparently, the redhead had been a feared AKATSUKI member and had tortured many in such barbaric manners— Sasuke being one of them.

Then, why had he died so easily?

"—head out on the highway—"

Now that he thought about it, Chiyo's attack had been expected. Sasuke himself had known it was coming; he'd heard the elderly woman move, heard the swish of the sword and the faint whistle as it soared through the air. The Uchiha had been ready to throw himself backwards, in case Sasori dodged, and had braced himself ready.

But the redhead hadn't even moved.

Sasuke had placed the edge of his blade at Scorpion's throat, and had had a gun pointed at himself in the process, but still Sasori hadn't moved. Neither of them would attempt to attack the other, for fear of ending their own life.

It was just as Sasori had said.

"_Stalemate, Uchiha-san."_

But, he'd made it more than that. If anything, he'd stood there and locked himself into position; maybe the surprise had been real, maybe it hadn't. Even so, the redhead hadn't moved— he'd stood and waited for the attack.

"—looking for adventure—!"

"…why?"

"Huh?" Naruto glanced sideways at his friend, before sighing and switching the music off. "Hey, what's up now? Decided you wanted to change some part of the plan without telling me and probably get yourself killed again?"

Sasuke scowled. "Shut up, dobe."

"Seriously, bastard! You could have died! And then who would have continued your revenge?" The blonde scowled, rolling his eyes. "You never used to act so reckless and stuff— that was me! I actually hate being the mature one, so hurry up and grow up."

"…you're telling me to grow up."

"Yeah, I am." Naruto paused, looking as though he wanted to say something more; and then he sighed, shrugging slightly. "Sasuke, seriously; if you did die, I wouldn't rest until I'd killed every single motherfucking AKATSUKI—"

Sasuke blinked, unsure of how to respond.

"—and then I'd revive you so that I could kick your ass for dying in the first place!"

The Uchiha chuckled, running a hand through his hair. For a second, all thoughts of Sasori had vanished, and his mind wandered. If he were to die… Who'd save her? First off, he was sure Naruto was a practiced ninja-spy-thing, but the blonde _was_ far too reckless— he'd run head first into the danger, and probably stagger back out missing an arm or two.

And then who'd save both of them?

He thought briefly of the torture he'd been through, under AKATSUKI's careful watch, and decided there was no way he'd ever let Naruto suffer as he had.

He shook his head slightly, before resuming with his earlier thoughts. "Hey, dobe," he murmured, not bothering to check if the blonde was actually listening before launching into his question. "How did Sasori die?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, incredulous. "See, when someone gets stabbed by a really sharp, pointy sword, and it goes right through them, they normally die. It's actually pretty abnormal to survive—"

"—you did."

The blonde blinked, touching his chest automatically. "…I did. Huh. So you remember. How long?"

Sasuke bit his lip and glanced away. "Since Sasori died; and I'm still sorry, by the way."

Naruto shrugged. "It doesn't matter now; that was years ago. We were kids, and something happened, and you kicked my ass."

"I almost killed you."

"Like I said, it doesn't matter now," Naruto flapped one hand at Sasuke. "Besides, I like to think that I got in a few good punches here and there. We _were _just training after all and no harm was done. I was patched up in no time. Anyway, you were acting stupid and asking how Sasori died."

Sasuke scowled and crossed his arms. "I wasn't acting stupid. What I meant was, did he die smiling or was he in pain?"

"I'd assume he was in pain after being, y'know, stabbed and shit…" The blonde paused, glancing quickly at his wing mirror and then turning left. "…but, yeah, now that you mention it, he did die smiling— like he thought he'd had the last laugh or something."

"Stalemate, right?"

"I suppose. What's this got to do with anything?"

"Do you think…?" Sasuke rubbed his forehead briefly, before staring out of the passenger door's window. "…do you think Sasori wanted to die?"

"Why would he want to die?" Naruto raised his eyebrows, frowning slightly as a passing car beeped at him. "I mean, I know he's killed loads of people, but he's part of AKATSUKI. I doubt he's the type of person to suddenly feel empathy."

"I think AKATSUKI are involved with something big— something deadly, which Sasori didn't want anything to do with; and death was the only way out. But… I don't know what yet."

Naruto snorted. "Of course you don't, Sasuke; girls may think you look like him, and you might act like him, but you're not Superman. If anything, you're a slightly better looking Batman."

"…Sasuke the Caped Crusader…?"

"Exactly."

"…That means you're my sidekick, moron."

A scowl.

"I freakin' hate you, teme."

-

-

"White Rabbit," Shikamaru yawned, scratching the back of his neck and surveying the man in front of him. He was dressed entirely in black, with dark jeans and a black jumper; under one arm, he carried a folder crammed full with papers— he stared sullenly back at Shikamaru, with snowy white eyes. "What a drag… So, why are you here? Do I need to be worried?"

Neji smirked slightly, before rolling his eyes. "Cloud-san, you're still as much of a scatter brain as usual. Would you like to do business in the doorway, or should we perhaps move into your hopefully much warmer office?"

"Tch— why do I need to think, when you can do it all for me?" The scientist smiled slightly, before turning away; he motioned with one hand for Neji to follow, but didn't check to see if the taller man was actually coming. They walked briskly down the hallway in silence and then stepped into Shikamaru's office.

Shikamaru waded through the piles of papers and then sat down behind his desk, pointing at a chair directly opposite him— the Hyuuga walked swiftly over and took his place in front of the other man.

There was silence, as Neji rummaged through his folder.

"So, Neji… How's your day been, then? I suppose my troublesome assistant would like to see if you were free after work—"

"—I don't date."

"See, that's why girls assume you're gay." Shikamaru rolled his eyes and then stretched, eyeing the briefcase. "What's that you have there, then? I suppose it'll be something troublesome."

"You're in danger."

The scientist yawned, shrugging. "According to you, I'm always in danger."

"Let me finish, Shikamaru," Neji sighed, before laying the contents of his briefcase down on the desk in front of the other. "Avenger is back and Kitsune is assisting him. We must assume, for a second, that AKATSUKI are aware of you; they have lost a valuable asset to their team."

"Sasori, right? Otherwise you wouldn't be warning me," Shikamaru sighed, running a hand through his hair, and then gestured at the papers on the desk in front of him, and Neji's laptop. "What's this got to do with anything, though?"

"My computer was hacked. I have printed a copy of what the hacker sent to me, and they're all directly in front of you. That—" Neji pointed at the laptop. "—was the one which got hacked. I need you to trace it for me. We need to find the hacker, before AKATSUKI do; they have access to our safe files."

Shikamaru frowned, flipping open the laptop, and then gazed at the screen in wonder. Codes were running up and down it; an assortment of random numbers and letters, the screen was split in half by a large white line— to the untrained eye, made no sense at all.

Shikamaru, however, had trained his eyes very well.

"You ought to get rid of this— it's too troublesome for its own good." The scientist paused, tapping the left hand side of the screen. "These numbers and letters; they're sending a history of everything you've ever done, seen, or read on this computer to a third party. And these—" he tapped the right side. "—letters are sending your exact location to the very same third party. I could probably tap into the signal with my own computer, and trace it back to the source, but no doubt there's some kind of loop which would simply show me the location of my computer. Whoever this hacker is, I have no doubt that they were trained by the best."

"LEAF level?"

"Higher. This is top ANBU level. You're looking at anyone who was, or is, an ANBU member," Shikamaru paused, before sorting through the papers and blinking. "…and apparently knew Haruno-san."

Neji frowned, before leaning forwards and lowering his voice. "…exactly how many people are in this building?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Just three— me, Ino and Asuma. Chouji's out at the moment, buying lunch, and Asuma's down the hall, if you want to talk to him."

The Hyuuga sighed, staring blankly at the wall opposite him and contemplating what to do next; there were precisely three people in the room and he'd seen AKATSUKI killings before— they weren't plain murders.

Every single one of them was a massacre.

Even with Neji there, he was sure at the most only he would survive. Were he to protect Shikamaru, and completely abandon the other two, there was a slim chance that the scientist would survive; but the Hyuuga was, after all, a prodigy. If he were a member of AKATSUKI, he would have wired the building the moment he even found out about Shikamaru; the scientist was far too valuable to simply leave alone.

"—Neji?"

The Hyuuga frowned, glancing briefly up at the scientist; Shikamaru was only slightly younger than him, but far smarter.

"Shikamaru, it is my duty to attempt to protect each citizen here— which means, even though I want to, I can't leave your blonde friend here, since AKATSUKI will surely kill her."

"Oh, you're not cold-hearted at all," the scientist scolded, but couldn't hide the smirk on his face despite that. He brushed a few strands of brown hair out of his eyes, before sighing and reaching into the drawer under his desk. "Do you want my opinion on all this?"

"—your opinion?" Neji didn't bother hiding his scowl. "I don't want it. I don't particularly want to ask for your help, yet again; but I need you alive so Avenger can have his revenge without being killed. So, for this event— yes, I want your opinion."

There was a period of silence, as Shikamaru rummaged through his overly messy drawer; the Hyuuga opposite him noted, however, that the other was quite obviously thinking. His brown eyes were closed in concentration, and he was frowning slightly— after a second, he pulled a packet of cigarettes out of the drawer, and tugged a lighter out of his pocket.

The smell of smoke filled the room; Shikamaru opened one eye, gazing briefly at Neji. "Want one? And don't tell me it's a bad habit— it's too troublesome for me to stop."

The Hyuuga simply raised an eyebrow. "I know better than to scold you, Nara— in that sense, you're as stubborn as Naruto. I doubt there's a moment when you've ever listened to me. And, no, I don't particularly want a cigarette."

There was a brief chuckle, and then—

"—we can't leave the building, can we? At least, I can't leave until I've tracked this signal, and you can't leave until I do."

"There's no chance of you being able to take your equipment with you?"

"…it's troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed, before quickly scanning his equipment; he frowned, sighed heavily, and then shook his head. "There's too much— and, hopefully, it won't take too long to track this signal. I just need to hack into the frequency and then everything's fine and dandy."

Neji frowned and pulled himself slowly to his feet; "get to work, then. I doubt you want to be here anymore than I do when AKATSUKI finally show up. I shall send your blonde friend in this general direction, and have a word with Asuma."

"…what a drag."

The Hyuuga rolled his eyes, picking his way quickly and efficiently out of the room. He paused in the doorway, unsure of what else to say— perhaps good luck, or something along those lines? He chuckled darkly, and turned to Shikamaru.

"And, Cloud… If you have any idea of how much danger we're in, you'll work extremely quickly."

-

-

Naruto yawned, rubbing his cerulean eyes sleepily and then glanced briefly across at his best friend; they'd pulled over beside an abandoned cottage and— although the blonde had argued bravely and irritated the crap out of the other boy— Sasuke had refused to sleep inside. Naruto rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly and then scanned the other's face, frowning slightly.

Sasuke was definitely asleep— the steady, rhythmic breathing assured Naruto of that fact— but his lips were parted and definitely murmuring words; whispering deadly, dangerous secrets.

Naruto leaned forwards, attempting to catch a phrase or something— trying to understand his best friend more than he'd ever done before.

"—be your hummingbird, whisper words in your ear and tell you that the pain isn't there. I can be your hummingbird, whisper words in your ear and tell you that the pain isn't there. I can be your—"

Whispering it over and over, as though it were a mantra; Naruto watched silently, surveying the other boy with a deadly gaze that many had never seen before. He puzzled briefly over what the words could mean— were they a code of some sort, something that someone had told Sasuke before he lost his memory?

Or was his best friend simply going insane?

Naruto dismissed the second notion; Sasuke was far too in control of his actions, which was practically the same as most Uchiha's— not that Naruto had actually met many. He was sure, however, that Sasuke would not lose his mind until he had killed those he wanted to kill, until he had avenged the deaths of so many close to him— maybe, after that, the blonde would have to keep a close eye on his friend.

The idea of a code lodged itself firmly in Naruto's mind— therefore confirming the fact that he was becoming slightly paranoid— and he chuckled. "He's going to hate me for this; but the bastard deserves it!"

And then he drew his hand back and slapped Sasuke swiftly around the face.

The Uchiha spluttered, his hands flying immediately to his reddening left cheek; his eyes flickered downwards, widened, and then narrowed as he gazed at Naruto. "…what the _fuck _was that for?"

"You were muttering to yourself and stuff," Naruto sniggered. "I thought I'd help you snap out of it before you went off to loopy land."

Sasuke looked as though he was about to argue, before leaning on the dashboard and whispering hoarsely, "what was I saying?"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, unsure of the other's reaction— they were only words, after all, nothing to act so shocked and scared about. "Something about being a hummingbird and—"

"—whisper words in your ear and tell you that the pain isn't there…"

The blonde shrugged, raising his eyebrows; "yeah, that was it. What's wrong?"

Sasuke hissed, putting one hand over his eyes and gestured for Naruto to be silent— the blonde complied, grumbling slightly, and then folded his arms. They sat quietly for a moment, both wondering, both thinking, and finally the Uchiha spoke up.

"…those words were in my dream— over and over again. It was a girl speaking; the same girl who was speaking before; and I was speaking with her. It was like we were calling to each other and… I think I was running to her. I caught a glimpse of pink, and then you slapped me," Sasuke scowled. "Bastard."

Naruto merely grinned.

"…who was she?"

"Haruno Sakura. She was a perfect ANBU member— better, at times, than you. She achieved the best in every single test and could always stay one step ahead of the enemy, but her emotions would always get the better of her when it came to us. She'd whack me round the head every time I screwed up and didn't listen to orders, and you could easily turn her from a valued ANBU member to a giggling school girl," Naruto chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Actually, she'd do anything to help either of us— she chased after you when you were kidnapped by AKATSUKI. She helped break you out, but…"

Naruto fell silent—although, to Sasuke, it didn't particularly matter. He already knew exactly what had happened next; she'd got caught and he'd tried to save her, thus resulting in his defeat and loss of memory.

Which really sucked.

"What was her alias, or whatever the hell you call it?"

"We called her 'Alice' because, originally, she hadn't wanted to be part of LEAF or ANBU. She'd had a job as a secretary in some office— the only reason she ended up working for LEAF was because she saved my ass." Naruto explained, matter-of-factly. "Of course, you recommended her immediately to Princess and Sakura, for lack of better words, 'fell down the rabbit hole'."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Poetic."

"Hey, don't mock! Although, that was how you reacted when you first found out, but anyway— shut up!" Naruto paused, before grinning. "I mean, I asked Kakashi-sensei once and he said you'd probably been born predictable— which is apparently why I'm your babysitter, and not Neji, because—"

"—you have no authority."

"YOU BASTARD!"

Sasuke simple rolled his eyes.

"…speaking of Kakashi-sensei," Naruto continued, shooting the Uchiha a quick glare. "We ought to go and see him; your sword skills aren't as polished as they used to be, and your ANBU skills in general are a tad shabby."

Sasuke frowned, glancing briefly at his blonde friend. "Kakashi—?"

((—one eye crinkles in a smile, his mouth hidden by a blue mask; the familiar vivid book in his hand clashes with his clean, ANBU uniform; orange against black and, surprisingly, not a splash of blood in sight, as he pulls his mask over his features—))

Naruto opened his mouth to explain, but he was waved silent; "don't worry, I remember. You're going to leave me with that old pervert while you do what, exactly?"

"We have no information at all; nothing relevant, at least! I'm going to catch up with Neji, and ask him if he's found anything, while you stay and practice like a good boy. Understand?" The blonde smiled cheerily, before jerking the steering wheel left and skidding around a corner. "And I'm not backing down on this one, teme."

"Hn."

"You'll actually stay with Kakashi? Really?" Sasuke was only slightly hurt that Naruto didn't believe him, but he nodded nonetheless; cerulean eyes glanced at him warily. "Because you need to become much stronger before you can defeat Itachi."

"…I know."

-

-

Neji found himself barely able to contain his frustration, his fists clenched, as he gazed at yet another photo of Sarutobi Asuma's recently born child— "just a month old, and such a darling angel, too!" The Hyuuga mentally counted to five, before taking a deep breath and attempting to explain again.

"…Asuma, I don't think you entirely understand. This situation is far worse than any you have imagined and, unless I move you from this building swiftly, you will surely die—"

Asuma merely winked, tugging his crooked tie straight, and dusting down his white lab coat, as he continued with his rant.

"—but Kurenai's still looking beautiful, I'll give her that. Stretch-marks or not, we can still have a good time; but, of course, you know what I mean, right?" The older scientist grinned, nudging the furious brunette pointedly, and then tugged a cigarette out of his pocket. The older man smirked slightly, enjoying winding the younger, and easily infuriated, man up— he was quite aware of the circumstances, but surely there was just a little time for fun before work?

"Quite frankly, I do not care whether your wife is good at sex or not; my top priority is escorting you, your female assistant, and possibly the smartest member of ANBU in Konoha, out of this building."

"…because AKATSUKI are here, right?"

Neji shot the other man a filthy glare. "So you were listening."

"Neji, dearest, I always listen." Asuma grinned, before promptly flinching. "—woah, woah, there's no need to look so angry! I was just messing with you, no worries; I can't afford to die anyway, since I have a family to feed."

There was a moment of silence.

"…you ANBU guys live a pretty dangerous life, huh? I bet you've got no time for dating and girlfriends, let alone a child and a wife— a family."

Neji rolled his eyes, eyeing the other man wearily, checking to see if he was packing up— Asuma merely grinned, shoved a few books inside a bag, and stood as though he was ready to leave.

"I wouldn't know, Asuma; I don't try to have time."

"Oh, such a cold-hearted bastard, aren't you?" He chuckled softly, flapping his hands in the Hyuuga's general direction. "Yeah, yeah— like you don't fantasize."

Neji simply fumed and marched off in search of Shikamaru's blonde assistant, choosing to ignore Asuma's taunts; after all, there was only so much a Hyuuga could take, before finally snapping— he was pleased to say, however, that it took longer to reach his snapping point than Sasuke.

After a moment of wondering exactly where Sasuke and Naruto were, Neji shook his head and continued quickly down the corridor; he was getting a headache just thinking about the pair, and the situation he was in now was barely helping at all. He sighed, glancing swiftly into Shikamaru's office as he passed; the lazy genius was still sat in front of the two laptops, watching and waiting, every now and then pressing a key— he yawned, stretched, and pulled another cigarette out of his pocket.

Neji wrinkled his nose and strode away; no wonder the entire place stank of cigarettes— every two seconds, a different person was lighting one up.

"Excuse me!"

The Hyuuga promptly swirled around, only slightly relieved at the girl's voice; a quick once over told him she was pretty, but not particularly beautiful. She was fidgeting, obviously nervous, before meeting Neji's gaze.

"Uh… My name's Yamanaka Ino and I work here as well, with Shikamaru," for a second, her face looked furious and she scowled, "that lazy idiot! I bet he still hasn't done those papers I needed!"

Neji smirked. "That does sound like Shikamaru."

"He's so… so…troublesome!" Ino's eyes widened, and her hands flew to her mouth in shock. "Oh God— now he's got me talking like him."

The Hyuuga chuckled, before gesturing behind him. "Is your office down here, Ino? It'll probably be much more comfortable in there, than out here. I have some very important information to tell you— which, if your male colleagues don't hurry up, will be useless."

"Well, see, that's my point…" Ino suddenly looked sheepish. "…I overheard you telling Shikamaru—"

"—you were eavesdropping." Neji said blankly.

"—what?! No! I just happened to be walking past and I heard!" She hissed, slightly flustered, "But, that's not the point!"

The Hyuuga just rolled his eyes. "Then, I have no need to tell you and you can wait, preferably, with Asuma. I shall go and hurry Shikamaru up, and you need to make sure you have everything gathered, ready to leave—"

"We need to leave_ now_!"

Neji froze, blinking at the woman stood in front of him; she was most certainly panicking. Blue eyes, the colour of the sky, flickered left and then right, searching for a means of escape— he chest heaved forwards and backwards, as her breathing became harsher and heavier.

But there was no mistaking the unimaginable terror in her voice, or the chilling words she had said.

"Leave… now? What did you see?!" Neji began to run now, back to Shikamaru, practically dragging Ino along behind him.

"There was a car! I couldn't see inside, the windows were blacked out, but it looked wrong; no tourists ever go up the dusty track, they all use the motorway since the track is too dangerous." Ino gasped for breath, before continuing. "Its three miles away— the track, that is— but at the speed they were going at…"

Neji didn't bother continuing her words; instead, he glanced swiftly around the corridor. There was nothing much of any importance, minus a few cupboards and a staff seating area. He threw the first cupboard door open, eyed Ino quickly, and then jabbed his thumb at the newly found hiding place. "Get inside."

She didn't argue— instead, she hitched up her skirt and, with Neji's help, climbing inside. Settled awkwardly in a crouch, she stared at the other with wide eyes. "B—be careful." She murmured, and he smiled sadly, before shutting the doors.

He could feel her gaze on his back, as he continued his quiet sprint; surprise would be, perhaps, the only weapon he had, and he couldn't help but curse his luck. Trust Shikamaru not to mention the track, or how helpful his female assistant could be; and damn the lazy genius to hell, though that was surely where they were going in just seconds. He slowed down, tugged his phone out of his pocket, and then dialed Naruto's number.

Silence, and then—

"_Neji! Nice to hear from you again!"_

He rolled his eyes, and then promptly murmured the address, of the laboratory, into the phone. "Where are you?"

There was a muffled rustling, and then Naruto was speaking again. _"I just passed it; I dropped Sasuke off at Kakashi's earlier. I'm going to try and make a turning— don't die until I get there."_

—and then Naruto had hung up, and Neji was racing towards Shikamaru's office; he slowed down, a sense of foreboding filling his mind, as he noticed the door was slightly open. He peered inside and the breath caught in his throat.

Shikamaru was stood up behind his desk, rolling his eyes and no doubt muttering something about everything being 'troublesome', with a sharp kunai in his hand— he caught site of Neji and nodded for the Hyuuga to come in.

"AKATSUKI are here."

"I know. Ino told me."

"You're ready?" Neji raised an eyebrow, and couldn't stop himself from sounding incredulous.

"I might be lazy, but that doesn't mean I'm incompetent," the scientist murmured, stepping over to the Hyuuga. "We should leave, anyway; I've got the coordinates, and now you can confront your little hacker."

"So now we leave. Naruto should be here any second; he's got his Toyota, and we'll just have to make do—"

From out in the corridor, someone screamed. Neji and Shikamaru both froze, sprinting to the door, just as the scream was cut short— there was a cry of pain, and suddenly Ino was flung in their direction; Shikamaru went to jump out, attempted to catch her, but Neji put his hand on the other's chest and shoved him back inside. "Stay there and be ready."

Ignoring the Nara's indignant protests, he moved swiftly out into the corridor, tugging a gun out of his back pocket. After hoping he wouldn't have to use it, he now wished he'd brought more weapons; fighting AKATSUKI members with his fists only wouldn't be fun.

"…fuck… fuck, fuck—shit! I already have fucking blood on my cloak, and that dickwad is going to castrate me!"

Neji's blood ran cold; please, not them, anyone, but them. Some twisted part of his mind assured him that he would be fine— after all, at least it wasn't Itachi.

And suddenly a kunai was flying through the air, aimed directly at his forehead; Neji barely managed to duck, listening as it whistled through the air and crashed harmlessly into the floor, next to Ino. The blonde woman whimpered, and he glanced briefly at her; her leg was twisted at an odd angle and blood was running from a wound on her chest.

"…you dodged that shit? ANBU, right?"

Neji didn't bother responding; he tugged his gun upwards and fired twice, eyes pinpointing exactly where the kunai flew from. There was a muffled yelp in response and—

"—shit! What the fuck— how did you spot me from there? Crap, I must be getting old or some other shit like that; I mean, seriously." There was a nasty chuckle. "Then again, now you've got no fucking chance of getting out alive. Bastard."

"Hidan; number Seven to AKATSUKI; also known as PRIDE— you're well known for you infamous boasts of being immortal. No blade, or bullet, can wound you, correct?" Neji called clearly, offering a challenge to the other man.

Which Hidan, of course, accepted. He was, after all, best known for his relentless pride— and his obsession with Jashin, just another God of death, and just another warped cult.

He stepped into view— snowy white hair trickled into deep violet eyes; he wore a typical AKATSUKI cloak, leaving it open, and blood soaked the left shoulder. Neji made a mental note, as that could definitely be a weakness, and slipped easily into a fighting stance— Pride was known to use a scythe which Neji was sure he could block easily, if need be.

Hidan frowned, eyeing Neji quickly. "…you know a lot for cannon fodder. Who the fuck are you?"

"You don't know?"

The other man scowled and shook his head— Neji just smirked, pushing his gun back into his pocket.

"…then I'm not telling you."

With that, the Hyuuga raced forwards, just in time to hear Hidan mumble something about annoying bastards in general— he thrust his palm forwards, attempting to hit Hidan square on in the chest. The Jashinist dodged, swinging his scythe towards Neji in turn; the other ducked, kicking his legs out, just as Hidan jumped.

They stayed where they were, panting heavily.

"You're pretty fucking fast," Hidan declared, grudgingly. "This is going to be a bitch of a fight."

"I agree— now hold still."

And then they were moving again— Neji punching and flipping, with Hidan dodging and stabbing. Neither landed a blow; they were both far too quick, to fast, to fall prey to such silly tricks. Neither of them were fighting their hardest, either; both were simply eyeing the other up, searching for weaknesses, and trying to beat each other at that, as well.

Neji already knew, however, that in a close combat fight, he would surely beat the older man; however, with the other swinging that scythe around with such deadly accuracy, he wasn't as sure of the outcome; after all, both were almost as fast as each other— judging from the many ducks and dodges, Hidan was only slightly faster.

…and he certainly put a lot of power behind his attacks.

The Hyuuga swore, flipping backwards and then promptly dodging forwards again— he was forced to duck as the already too familiar scythe flew through the air, aimed directly at his neck. His opponent grinned, eyes glinting with sadistic pleasure and triumph; another attack, and Neji would have to take another step backwards, and he was being steadily overpowered. White eyes met violet; a snarl escaped Neji's lips and, as the scythe flew through the air, he rolled swiftly to the left.

"Fuck!"

"…idiot."

Neji froze at the new voice, spinning around and tugging his gun out of his pocket— he'd already figured there would be a trap, since Hidan had been so keen on forcing him backwards, which was why he'd rolled to the side.

But he'd been sincerely hoping that there wouldn't be another AKATSUKI.

"Shut the hell up, Kakuzu! Can't you fucking help me out for once?" Hidan scowled, swinging his scythe wildly at the newcomer.

Kakuzu merely stepped aside, turning instead to stare at Neji; they eyed each other up, considering, waiting, merely watching…

He was tall, Neji decided, and amazingly broad— built practically for power— and perhaps as fast as his subordinate; to dodge such a wild hit, with little more than a sidestep, was definitely something. His cloak was longer than the other's, and done up; the sleeves practically hung over his hands, and he wore a black mask covering the bottom half of his face. His eyes were startlingly green— just like marbles, Neji found himself thinking— and he surveyed Neji with the eyes of a killer.

"Hyuuga Neji, head of ANBU's Intelligence Department, and head of ANBU itself— the young prodigy of the esteemed Hyuuga family; apparently, your reputation exceeds you." Kakuzu paused, before tilting his head in thought. "Of course it does— many people want you dead, and there's definitely quite a fetching bounty on your head."

Neji rolled his eyes. "There's always been quite a fetching bounty on my head, and no one's ever been able to get it."

"Is that a challenge, Hyuuga?" Greed raised an eyebrow, obviously intrigued. "Because, if you haven't noticed, there are two of us, and only one of you. And, no matter how much of a moron Hidan is, even he has been more than a match for you so far."

Hidan looked as though he was unsure whether to complain or agree.

Neji frowned, considering this, and then merely shook the hair out of his eyes and slipped back into his fighting stance. He glanced briefly at Ino, checking she was still conscious— when he was satisfied, he turned back to Kakuzu.

The taller man seemed absolutely uninterested; his gaze flickered over Ino's, met Neji's, and then immediately shot over to the door of Shikamaru's office. The Hyuuga swore, swirling around to stop Hidan from entering the room, only to feel something cold and metallic wrap around his ankle— then he was being flung straight back down the corridor. He could taste blood in his mouth, but he ignored it, staggering back to his feet.

"Try not to turn your back on me, Hyuuga—"

"—shit!"

Neji blinked, watching as Hidan practically threw himself out of the office; Shikamaru wandered out afterwards, gun in hand, and stood next to Neji. There was a brief moment of silence between the two ANBU.

"…so, even though it was troublesome, I thought you might need some help…" The scientist said, with a yawn.

"Just shut up."

There was a loud sigh, and Neji glanced up— his eyes widened in shock, as he stared at Kakuzu; there was a sharp intake of breath beside him, and he realized Shikamaru was probably just as shocked.

At least several metal arms, each as thick as Neji's wrist, were squirming and struggling in the air— their reactions reminded him on snakes, as they writhed, entwined. Kakuzu had thrown of his jacket, showing everyone exactly where the many arms came from; blood trickled down his arms, from the many wounds which they had made, as they forced their way out of his body.

There was barely any reaction time, before Neji was been forced to dodge and duck, flipping and spinning out of the way of razor sharp points— Kakuzu barely had to move, simply stepping forwards and backwards when necessary.

Shikamaru, meanwhile, was bee rapidly overpowered by Hidan; his techniques weren't as good in close combat, as he preferred to use a gun, and his overall speed wasn't as fast as Neji's. But his next steps were always planned, leading his attacker slowly away from Neji and Ino, and further up the corridor he'd appeared from.

That's when they heard the footsteps.

Both of them froze, listening intently— Shikamaru swore quietly, backing back down the corridor, towards where the person would have to appear. Hidan's mouth twisted into a wicked grin, as he too stepped forwards.

There was a brief silence, as the unknown person paused, and then stepped out into view. Asuma blinked at Shikamaru, his eyes shooting to Hidan and then widening— his face paled and he looked as though he were about to say something.

"Shikamaru, I—"

Hidan rushed forwards, scythe arcing through the air. There was a splatter of blood, a choked gurgle, and then Asuma pitched forwards; he landed heavily on the floor, his eyes slightly dazed as they met Shikamaru's.

"Shikamaru… I… look a—after Kurenai…" The older man smiled shakily, tears seeping from his eyes, and the murmured another hushed sentence. "…you were always… going to be… the godfather."

And then the scientist's eyes closed, and he was heard no more.

Shikamaru felt his breathing catch, and then he turned, sprinting down the corridor. Hidan's cackle filled the air, suffocating the other, and all the Nara could remember was Asuma— his last smile, his last words,

((I'LLKILLTHATMURDERINGMOTHERFUCKERIWILL))

and his last wish. He hissed, attempting to clear his head; if he was going to beat Hidan, he was going to have to think clearly— the son of a bitch would surely be on his heels any minute now, and—

Shikamaru had an idea.

He was at the end of the corridor, nearing the stairs; he took them two at a time, ignoring the fact that Hidan would be straight after him, jeering and taunting. He flung himself around a corner, trying his hardest not to gaze into each room and search for a familiar trait— a cigarette packet rolled briskly across the floor, and he kicked it away— of Asuma; he needed to be as focused as possible. Doors passed, blurred, as he sprinted, listening carefully to the faint footsteps and muttering curses as they neared.

After spotting the door he wanted, he threw it open and slipped inside— brown eyes flickered around the room, searching for something, and he grunted in annoyance. He tugged open a cupboard, gazed inside, shook his head, and promptly tipped open the contents of a nearby drawer. He continued his frenzied search until he found it— a small, silver bomb.

(("Just press your finger against the pad— it only reacts to your fingerprints. Cool, huh? Then you set the timer, hide it, and then run like hell. It's not thoroughly tested yet— I can't predict just how big the blast will be, but… it's definitely a babe, Shikamaru, and I hope you won't have to use it."))

Asuma had warned him— and now he was going to break all the rules, risking everyone's lives in the process, just to kill this one man.

It was too risky— too troublesome— for Shikamaru.

But, yet, he was ready. He pressed his finger swiftly against the pad, set the timer to five minutes, and then stood ready for Hidan. The door flew open, practically flying of its hinges, and Pride grinned.

"Show time."

-

-

At around the same time as Asuma's death, Naruto was sprinting from his car towards the building; he'd gotten stuck in traffic— damn it all!— and had gotten there just moments too late. He threw open the door, swore loudly, and then raced down the corridor.

((pleasedon'tbetoolatepleasepleasePLEASE))

He shot around a corner, only just managing to skid to a halt before crouching down ready— neither Neji or his attacker (who Naruto recognized as Six; the deadly Greed) had noticed him, and he was definitely ready for a surprise attack.

He took a tentative step forwards, only to notice the blonde woman lying sprawled across the floor to the left of him. He glanced at her; her eyes widened and her mouth opened in a gasp— he mimed zipping his lips, ducking back around the corner before anyone else noticed him.

_((—meanwhile, Shikamaru was running, and his thoughts were filled with revenge, sweet motherfucking revenge—))_

Naruto paused, before glancing at the sword which hung at his side; his beloved Rasengan, who he'd rather die than leave behind— as melodramatic as it sounded. He peered around the corner, sizing Greed up, and decided that Rasengan was pretty much the only weapon he had which would kill such a monster of a man.

Then again, Rasengan was a bitch to control; hopefully, the adrenalin pumping through his body would be more than enough to help him be quick enough the charge it up.

He tugged the sword out of its sheath, careful not to touch the spiraling disc before he was ready. The sword was a long, and thin, with too long handles; they stretched out sideways, making space for a touchpad disc— basically, to charge it up, Naruto had to press the disc quickly, over and over, until it created a crackling static. The static would swirl and charge down the length of the blade, not unlike electricity, but stir up a powerful wind around the sword; it wasn't the static which wounded the opponent— no, that was far to Chidori-like— it was the powerful wind which caused the most damage.

Naruto offered a quick prayer to whoever was up there, took a deep breath, and then held the sword stretched out with one hand.

"…hold on for a little bit longer, Neji."

With his other hand, he began to lightly tap the disc, first slowly and with only his forefinger, before eventually pressing his entire palm down on the disc, quickening his fingers. His brow was furrowed in concentration and a bead of sweat dribbled down his forehead.

If this didn't work, he was pretty sure both Neji and himself were fucked.

_((—Shikamaru was searching, desperately, frantically, until he found it; and he pressed it and hid it and was ready, totally and utterly ready—))_

Meanwhile, Neji was dodging and ducking, trying not to show just how tired he felt; those metal snake-things were faster than he thought they were, and, as though to prove this fact, he roared in pain as one tore straight through his shoulder.

"It seems, Hyuuga, you're not as fast as that moron said you were." Kakuzu couldn't help smirking— and Neji knew the other man was just playing with him.

White Rabbit closed his eyes, thinking quickly— he wasn't Shikamaru, he couldn't predict the movements of this man, and Naruto still hadn't appeared. Now was about time for the blonde to make a grand appearance, but whatever; the Hyuuga wasn't going to die, definitely not— people still needed him, his cousin, Hinata, needed him…

He thought for a second longer, and then decided.

If he was going to die, he was going to go down in style.

He ducked underneath another flailing arm, racing straight towards Kakuzu— the other man only seemed slightly surprised at the full on attack, choosing to raise his eyebrow pointedly, but Neji ignored him.

_((—and, upstairs, Hidan's eyes met Shikamaru's, and his mouth curled into a snarl and it was most definitely, most certainly show time— as the clock ticked, and red letters switched quickly into 04:30—))_

He rushed forwards, aiming directly for Kakuzu's chest— he skidded to a halt, arms outstretched, and then jabbed his palm swiftly at the other man. Greed's eyes widened and he staggered backwards; he coughed and blood stained his mask.

Neji allowed himself a small smile, before gazing down at the sharply-pointed metal arms which protruded from his stomach.

Kakuzu scowled, the anger obviously visible in his eyes, and hissed at Neji, "…what the fuck did you do?" He could barely move forwards, only able to take small steps at a time, and the metal snake-things, which he'd been able to control so fluently before, twitched spasmodically. The younger man didn't answer, and continued smiling that infernal smile— he was going to die, that idiot, and now Kakuzu was going to make it as painful as possible.

"I asked you a question!" He flicked one finger at the wall— the two metal arms which had torn through the ANBU's body twitched, before responding; and suddenly Neji was smashed against the wall, with such force that he was barely able to shield his head with his shaking arms; it seemed the loss of blood was beginning to get to him.

_((—above, Shikamaru was thrown in a similar fashion, whacking his head against a nearby cupboard, and Hidan cackled—_

_and, all the while, time ticked by._

_3:43—))_

Naruto swore, peering at Neji— who knew how long the ANBU would be able to hang on for, and he wasn't letting him die, no damn way. Then again, the Hyuuga was most certainly in bad shape; blood trickled not only from his stomach wound, but from a cut to his forehead— and his entire forehead looked as though it had been torn open. The blonde wasn't sure if he'd make it, but he had to try and save the other— otherwise, would he ever be able to face Hinata again?

…no chance.

For a second, he found himself wishing that Sasuke was here— Chidori took a lot less time to charge up, as the Uchiha had mastered it completely; but, then again, he'd be entirely useless here, since he had lost his memory. Naruto shook his head, attempting to clear his thoughts, as his fingers tapped naturally against Rasengan.

_((—and Shikamaru closed his eyes, wishing time would go by quicker; 2:19—))_

Neji could barely open his eyes and, even when he did, the blood blurred his vision— there was a dull throbbing in his head, and Kakuzu's voice was just so distant. He felt himself flying through the air, the arms leaving his body, and his eyes met Asuma's glazed over brown eyes.

'Oh,' his mind murmured, softly, 'this is what it feels like to die— to die without achieving the things you wanted to.'

He briefly thought of Tenten, a younger member of ANBU who he'd become quite fond of over the years; he'd never gotten to tell her that, never gotten to say how proud of her he was, never gotten to—

—his body thudded into the ground and he lay there, broken and beaten, and wondered how he'd have died if he'd been like Asuma.

If he'd been normal.

Would he be feeling loving arms holding him now, whispered words telling him not to leave her (whoever her was, anyway), and would tears fall onto his cheeks? Would he have magnificent last words, or would he be as tongue tied as he was now?

He tried, experimentally, to move his legs and frowned when they wouldn't. His arms, eyelids, and fingers were the same— even wiggling a toe took too much effort and hurt too much. A jolt of panic ran through his body, as he realized just how disappointed everyone would be— an esteemed Hyuuga prodigy had died failing.

_((—another wave of sadness hit Shikamaru, and he glanced briefly towards the floor. What was going on down there, anyway? He was startled out of his thoughts as Hidan's scythe sliced towards him— he barely dodged it, weaving his way out from behind another table._

_How was Neji doing, anyway?_

_And Ino… was she okay? If she died, if they'd killed her, he knew it was entirely his fault. It was such a shame, really; she was a bright and attractive girl, with an entire life ahead of her, and Shikamaru had wanted, despite his denials, to be a part of it._

_He glanced in the general direction of the bomb's hiding place, on the underside of a table, and smiled slightly. It was barely a smile, really— too many things had gone badly for him to be _that _pleased; but it was a smile nonetheless, and Hidan noticed it._

"_What's so funny, dickface?"_

_Shikamaru just chuckled. "…what a drag."_

_And the time read 1:35—))_

Naruto swore, glancing briefly at Neji. The Hyuuga was unconscious— he hoped— and barely hanging on; Kakuzu was advancing slowly, threateningly, and now was the time for the blonde to make his move.

…if only Rasengan would hurry the fuck up.

The blonde scowled at it, listening to it whir quietly and feeling the small gusts of wind lift his clothes slightly; about another minute, he supposed, and he'd be ready.

But, in that time, Neji could be dead.

He was just about to step out and do something stupid, when someone else did exactly that for him.

"Hey, you bastard— leave him the hell alone!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, glancing briefly at the blonde woman on the floor; he wasn't sure of her name, but she was definitely brave— or stupid— but it didn't matter either way. The thought was definitely what counted, and she was definitely helping Naruto out.

The blonde watched as Kakuzu sighed and turned around; he glanced swiftly at the woman and shook his head in disbelief. He looked as though he was going to kill her; but then he changed his mind, and turned back to Neji.

Naruto, however, bit his lip— so that hadn't worked and Neji was definitely pretty dead unless—

"—hey!" She repeated, and she seemed braver. "Eat this, bastard!"

There was a single gunshot, before a metal arm whistled through the air and threw her backwards; Naruto watched her tumble past, unable to stop her, and silently thanked her. Hopefully she wasn't dead, and he'd be able to really thank her later.

Hopefully.

Rasengan vibrated pointedly in his hand, as though reminding him it was still there, and he cheered silently in triumph. A few more seconds— fifteen to twenty, at least… He was almost there, almost ready—!

_((—Shikamaru stood tall and ready, directly in front of the bomb, and crouched down pointedly. Hidan froze, watching and waiting for an attack, but none came. The Nara was merely checking the time, and he was definitely overjoyed._

_0:16._

_Cloud stepped backwards, surveying the AKATSUKI with distaste. "…troublesome motherfucker."_

_And, with that, Shikamaru threw himself out of the window—))_

Kakuzu reached down, ready to scoop the unconscious Hyuuga up and snap the bastard's neck; he let himself grin in triumph, before freezing at the sound of broken glass coming from above them.

"…what the hell is that moron up to now—?"

"—RASENGAN!"

Kakuzu barely had time to turn around; his eyes locked with cerulean eyes, and his mouth widened in surprise behind his mask. The sword— Rasengan, was it?— pierced through his body; and a surprisingly powerful wind ripped at his innards.

_((—"hey, what the fuck?" Hidan snarled, stepping forwards as though to look out the window; he thought better of it and turned, gazing at the table Shikamaru had been so interested in before._

_His eyes widened at the sight of the bomb._

"_Holy shit—"_

_0:00—))_

Naruto was thrown off his feet, at the force of the explosion from above; bits of the ceiling showered down on the blonde, but he wasted no time in retrieving his bloodied Rasengan from Greed's dying body.

He threw one dark glare at the AKATSUKI, before hurrying over to Neji.

The Hyuuga was definitely in a bad state, but Naruto was pretty sure Princess would be able to fix him up— he'd be up again in no time, ready to help Sasuke and Naruto cause whatever mischief they had planned next.

((…right?))

He bit his lip and then shook his head— no time for hesitation. He hoisted the Hyuuga up, letting the slightly heavier man slump against him; Naruto cast one sparing, pitying, glance at Asuma, before assisting Neji over to the blonde woman.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

She groaned in response.

"Can you move your legs? Do you think you can stand? It's just; this place could collapse at any moment." As if to prove his point, it began to rain tiles and dust.

"I… I think I can stand."

She tugged herself to her feet, wincing and moaning in pain as she did so— 'her leg is broken,' Naruto decided, 'and she shouldn't be moving in that state. But we've got no choice.' She limped alongside him, slowly, as he dragged Neji along with him.

They met Shikamaru at the entrance; the lazy scientist had broken his arm in the fall, as well as couple of ribs, and Naruto found himself attempting to support his other friend as well. As Shikamaru so blatantly put it, the tree didn't really break his fall.

The scientist glanced at the limp Hyuuga. "—is he…?"

"He'll survive." Naruto paused, cocking his head. "Do you have a phone on you?"

-

-

Tsunade was an extremely busy woman who happened to dislike being woken up from her evening nap (or drunken stupor, depending on what you wanted to call it), even for the most valid of reasons,

"Cloud," she murmured, having quickly glanced at the user ID.

"_Guess again, Princess!"_

Her lips tightened and she rolled her eyes. "Kitsune. What a surprise. And, pray tell, why are you calling me? You're considered a traitor here at LEAF."

"_A traitor who just so happens to have saved a lot of butt, as well as kicked ass! Listen, you'll need a medic to come to this address; send Kabuto, or someone. Neji's in a serious state and who knows if he'll make it?"_

Tsunade listened silently as Naruto recited the address, before grunting a word of thanks and hanging up. Within seconds, three of her best medics, Shizune and Kabuto included, were heading on their way to Neji and Shikamaru's rescue.

By the time they got there, Naruto would be gone.

Tsunade glanced at the calendar positioned opposite her— perhaps now was time to pay a visit to an old friend; namely Jiraiya. The old pervert would definitely know what to do.

-

-

Not too far from the crumbling laboratory, Sai watched the LEAF helicopters swoop down to Neji's rescue. He stood in silent, just surveying the damage, before pushing his sunglasses back over his eyes and smiling.

Oh, things were getting so fun!

He glanced at his laptop; his eyes stared blankly at the flickering, fluttering numbers. Although he'd vowed not to get involved, not to help the Uchiha in any way, Poker Face couldn't help but want to join in with the fun.

After all, he was curious by nature.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the third chapter and hell is it long— but make sure to check out 'Tastes Like Love', my new drabble collection, and send me some drabble requests by clicking in the livejournal link on my profile. Read and review, please!

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